The Secrets That We Keep
by Kristin4
Summary: Ziva has a big secret, one that may threaten everything she has become. Can the team figure it out and help her in time and will she and Tony find out how they really feel? TIVA.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or the characters Ziva, McGee, DiNozzo, Gibbs, Vance or any of the normal characters. I did not create them, I do not get paid for every episode that plays on the air ( don't you wish that was possible? Man that would be some big bucks LOL). Anyway when I introduce a new character I will let you know I own them after the chapter!

AN: All right I don't think I am very good at writing Ziva and her language barrier but I will give it a shot. I just started watching NCIS so I am not very familiar with the show so please please do not get mad if something doesn't fit with the characters or the show. Please leave me NICE reviews or suggestions…. Criticism is always helpful but please BE NICE!!! It might start off slow the first couple of chapters but please be patient and keep reading, I promise it will pick up and get interesting.

Now that I have officially bored you with the boring stuff, it's time to get to the good stuff. The TIVA fanfic. ENJOY ENJOY ENJOY!!!!

* * *

Chapter 1

Ziva was sitting at her desk in the NCIS building. She was staring at her computer monitor although she wasn't all that sure what she was supposed to be typing or if she was supposed to be looking something up. Her mind had begun wondering again and her focus had been lost. She had been this way for the past few months. Luckily she had been able to cover up and satisfy Gibbs with her work or she would have been in deep trouble. She wasn't all that certain what was going on with her but she has a sneaking suspicion what it had to do with.

"Ziiii-vaaaa." Tony said in a sing song voice as he walked over to her desk.

"What is it Tony?" Ziva asked annoyed at being interrupted when she was trying to remember what she was supposed to be doing.

"Gibbs told us to go home an hour ago and you haven't even blinked." Tony said crossing his arms in front of him.

"I still have work to do. You do not always leave when there are things to be finished, yes?" Ziva asked not paying attention to what she was saying.

Tony cocked his head to the side confused on whether that was a rhetorical question or a question requiring an answer. Sometimes it was hard to tell with Ziva's English in such bad shape at times. "Um…" Tony just said biting his lower lip and hoping she would speak instead.

"I will go home when I am finished." Ziva said looking back at her computer. She was positive there was something she was supposed to have done and yet hadn't.

"Fine but if you come in cranky tomorrow then I'm going to tell Gibbs it's because you are getting slow as you get older." Tony teased as he walked back to his desk and picked up his gear to leave. He pulled his weapon out of the drawer it was kept in and left the building without another word.

* * *

Ziva was getting frustrated as she sat there and then finally after another two hours of staring at a blank monitor she gave up. It was no use, Gibbs would have to find out she wasn't paying attention to him again and hadn't done any of her work. Sighing she shut everything off and grabbed her gear and gun before heading to the elevator. For some reason the hair on the back of her neck was standing up and she wasn't all that sure why. She shrugged it off to just being tired and exited the elevator at the parking garage. It was then that the Mossad in her took over and she immediately started sweeping the garage with her eyes. Something was amiss and she wasn't sure what it was.

* * *

Tony was sitting in his car, unsure of why he was still in the parking garage but he was worried about Ziva. There was something about her that just hadn't been right lately. He watched her walk to her car and noticed that she seemed ill at ease. It was something that he had noticed more and more lately. It was almost as if she was expecting someone to try and kill her at any moment. He watched as Ziva stopped walking and drew her weapon. Her eyes were focused on her own car and he was confused. In the two hours he had been sitting in his car he hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary.

"Ziva is losing it big time." He muttered to himself.

* * *

Ziva could see the marks around the keyhole in the door from where she stood. It was then that she noticed the old calling card lying next to the drivers side tire. An old secret was coming back to haunt her and that's when she realized why she had been so distracted, it was the anniversary. Ziva sucked in a deep breath and with her gun drawn carefully approached her car. She silently put her gear down and that's when she saw it.

"I am getting very, um, oh forget it." Ziva muttered frustrated that she couldn't think of the term she wanted to say in English.

Ziva noticed immediately what had been tampered with and rolled her eyes. This was a warning and not meant to kill her otherwise they would not have made the trap so obvious. Ziva quickly disarmed the bomb and cleared the rest of her vehicle. She heard the quiet footsteps behind her and turned aiming her gun at the persons heart before lowering her weapon and rolling her eyes.

"You could have been killed." She said simply staring at her partner.

"Why do you have your gun out anyway?" Tony asked confused.

"It is of none of your concern." Ziva said with a shrug of her shoulders glad Tony could not see the disarmed bomb. This was one secret and problem she would have to handle alone.

"Business Ziva, the term is none of your business." Tony said with a sigh. "Look we're partners so if something's wrong I would hope you would tell me."

"Nothing is wrong." Ziva lied with the ease of a well trained Mossad assassin.

"I have a feeling you wouldn't tell me if there was. I'm sorry to have worried about you, it won't happen again." Tony said sarcastically as he turned to leave.

"Make sure it doesn't." Ziva said simply before walking to where she had stashed the bomb. She made double sure it was disarmed before placing it in her car and grabbing her gear. This time she wouldn't be able to rely on her team for backup. Because if she involved NCIS in this then there would certainly be some bloodshed she couldn't live with.

* * *

Tony sat alone in his living room later that night. He was trying to figure out what was going on because he was sure Ziva was not fine. He was positive that something bad had happened or was about to happen and that Ziva was in trouble. The problem is she didn't trust him because of his last undercover assignment and that was going to be a problem.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Ziva sat at her kitchen table staring at the calling card and the bomb she had dissected. She recognized it almost immediately and felt the sense of dread. In all honesty she knew that one day this would happen. It had been promised that revenge would be had against her. She closed her eyes and leaned back in the chair, knowing that it was time. She opened her eyes and picked up her cell phone, calling Mossad to have them say they needed her for a mission. This way NCIS would not be aware of what was going on, and most importantly it would mean that all of her friends would be safe. But it would also mean she was on her own and that no matter what happened she would have no one watching her back the way the team, especially Tony, always did.

"It was good to have friends for once." Ziva whispered as tears escaped her eyes and she gave in to the weakness and the overwhelming feeling of sadness that she was feeling. It was breaking her heart to know she would most likely never see the people she had grown to care about again.

* * *

The next day Tony arrived at work to see McGee and Gibbs already there but there was no sign of Ziva. He frowned as he saw a temp sitting at her desk and was about to say something to the agent when he got the eye from Gibbs. After setting his gear aside he followed Gibbs to his 'office' and waited until after he had hit the emergency stop button before he spoke up.

"Mossad has taken Ziva back. They said it's for a mission but Vance doesn't believe them. You're her partner DiNozzo, I want you to tell me what is really going on." Gibbs said with a silent but menacing look that basically said Tony had better know something good.

"She hasn't been herself lately. Last night I waited in the garage for two hours before she finally left and she drew her own weapon and cleared her car. I don't know if there was something wrong or if she found something but I could tell that she wasn't our Ziva." Tony said angry at himself for not pushing her.

"I sent McGee to her place already and he said she had already cleared out. I mean her furniture and stuff is there but it looks like she took what she needed and left." Gibbs said with a frustrated look. "McGee put a trace on her cell and don't repeat this but we have Mossad lines tapped in case she checks in with them."

"She's in big trouble again isn't she?" Tony whispered.

"I have a feeling she was never out of trouble DiNozzo." Gibbs said as he hit the button to restart the elevator.

As Gibbs and Tony reentered the bullpen there was tension in the air. Tony glared at the poor temp agent that was sitting in Ziva's seat as he took his own seat. He wanted to go over there and tell them they weren't allowed anywhere near this area and that they had better clear out but he knew better than that. Sighing he booted his computer up and looked at the files still sitting where he had left them last night on his desk. He felt like picking them up and smacking himself in the head. Why hadn't he noticed last night what was really going on with Ziva? Why hadn't he followed his gut and not let her out of his sight?

* * *

Ziva was beyond tired, she was exhausted. She wasn't sure how much longer she was going to be able to keep her eyes open but she needed to get in touch with some old friends who owed her favors. She knew she was close to the edge and immediately found a hotel to pull into. Before getting out of her car she rubbed her face with her hands, desperate to clear the cobwebs from her brain and restore her vision from it's now blurry status. She was about to exit her car when she saw that her phone had begun ringing. She had turned it on vibrate after Tony's fifteenth call. Sighing she gave in, desperate to hear a friendly voice, and answered it.

"David." She said automatically.

"Ziva, where are you?" Tony's concerned voice came over the line.

"Working for Mossad." Ziva said hoping she sounded convincing to him.

"You can't lie to me Zi. Not after everything we have been through." Tony said softly into the phone. "I know you're in trouble and all I want to do is help you."

"You can not help me Tony, no one can. It is my time to die, I have to accept that." Ziva admitted into the phone. She was just to tired to try and pretend there was nothing wrong anymore.

"Don't you dare say something like that. McGee, Abby, Ducky, Palmer, Gibbs and I will always have your back and we certainly can't survive not having you around." Tony said forcefully into the phone.

"I am sorry Tony but there is nothing you may do to help me up." Ziva said with a sigh.

"Help you out, you mean." Tony automatically corrected her. "I am not letting you do whatever it is you are about to do alone. I'm your partner and I always have your six."

"Not this time I am scared." Ziva said really confusing her English because of exhaustion.

"Afraid, Ziva the word you want is afraid." Tony said frustrated. "I have to say there is nothing you can do Ziva."

* * *

Tony glared at his phone before making the left turn. McGee had been tracking Ziva's phone for a while and Tony was following his directions. He was close to her, that much he knew. He also knew something really bad was about to happen, he was just hoping he would get there in time. He didn't think he could handle it if he lost Ziva the same way that he had lost Kate. Especially since deep down he knew there was something about Ziva that was really special. He just wasn't ready to admit that yet.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ziva sighed as she finally got up the strength to get out of her car. As she opened the door she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She knew immediately that someone was watching her and that she was in trouble. She sighed as she pulled her gun from it's holster and scanned the immediate area for the danger. She was well aware that there could be a sniper anywhere and there would be nothing she could do for that shot. Suddenly a car came into the parking lot fast and parked next to hers. She arched her eyebrows when Tony climbed out of the car with a smirk on his face.

"You look like hell David." Tony said simply as he walked over to her.

"You should not be here Tony." Ziva whispered shaking her head. "They will kill you just to get to me."

"Then I guess you are going to have to tell me what this is all about so we can stop them before they do that now aren't you?" Tony said with a smirk on his face.

"I can not tell you anything Tony. Please you must let this play out the way it was meant to." Ziva said with a pleading look on her face.

"Looks like you and I are spending the holiday's together Ziva. Because I have no intention of leaving your side until you tell me what is going on and we take care of it together, the way we are supposed to." Tony said with a sigh. He opened the back seat of his car and grabbed his bag and then closed and locked the car. Then he walked over to her vehicle and opened the back seat grabbing one of her bags with an arched brow. He simply slung it over his shoulder shutting the door and motioning for her to lock her car.

"Please Tony do not do this. You must leave here before it is too late." Ziva said with a pleading look.

"Sorry Ziva but I told you I have your six." Tony said shaking his head as he motioned for Ziva to walk in front of him into the check in office.

* * *

Ziva was beyond frustrated as Tony only got one room. More importantly the hotel didn't have any rooms left with double beds in them. She and Tony were going to be stuck sharing a queen sized bed. Ziva felt herself wince at the thought of once again having to sleep in the same bed as her partner. They had only done that once before on their undercover assignment. Ziva walked into the room and had to admit it was very nice considering where she had managed to finally stop.

"I must shower first." Ziva said simply as she took her bag from Tony and made her way into the bathroom.

* * *

Tony heard the shower turn on and sighed. It was going to be a long night locked in the same room with Ziva and sharing the same bed. He had been shocked when he first pulled up and seen the exhausted look on her face as well as the fear in her eyes. He had never known Ziva to be afraid of anything in the world and the fact that she was scared now really got to him. He had never known Ziva to be afraid of anything at all. Sighing he sat down at the table that was in the corner of the room and pulled out his cell phone, calling Gibbs to let him know he was with Ziva and that she was in big trouble.

* * *

Ziva stood under the spray of the shower, stalling for as long as possible before she finally turned the water off and stepped out. She dried herself off and then quickly put on a pair of pajama bottoms and a cami tank top. She towel dried her hair the best she could and then walked back into the other room.

Tony glanced up at the sound of the bathroom door opening and felt his mouth run dry. He knew his jaw had probably dropped and that he was staring but Ziva looked hot and human like this.

"You are catching mosquitoes with your mouth open like that Tony." Ziva said with an arched eyebrow.

"It's flies. The actual saying is close your mouth before you start catching flies." Tony said automatically correcting Ziva.

"Does it really matter? It mean's the same thing, yes?" Ziva asked with a roll of her eyes. She was used to being corrected by everyone, considering her English was not that great.

"No I suppose it doesn't." Tony grumbled as he turned his attention back to the television.

"You did not think I was a real woman, even after you saw me naked undercover?" Ziva asked not dropping the subject. She figured if she made Tony as uncomfortable as possible maybe he might go away.

"I wouldn't mind seeing you naked again Ziiii-vaaaa." Tony said knowing her game and deciding to see if he could get even with her.

"You wish to see me naked?" Ziva asked as she started brushing her hair while sitting on the edge of the bed. "You have not said that before."

"I didn't know you didn't know." Tony said with a smirk as he turned to fully face her.

Ziva thought for a minute, trying to decide if there was any way she could make him uncomfortable and then she smirked. If this was the game that Tony wanted to play then she would play along. As long as it scared him away so that he was safe and not I danger because of her and her past secrets. Ziva got up off the bed and walked over so she was standing in front of Tony.

"If you do what I think you are gonna do Ziva then there will be no turning back." Tony warned her.

Ziva just smirked and lifted her Cami up over her shoulders and stood there in front of him, waiting for his reaction.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Tony stared at her and then got up from the table ready to make Ziva pay when a resounding crack and then the sound of glass shattering filled the room. Ziva slumped forward a little before putting her shirt back on. There was blood flowing from her left shoulder as she scrambled to get to her weapon. She noticed Tony already had his gun in his hand and was taking cover on the other side of the bed. She followed suit as soon as her weapon was in her hand.

"You're hit." Tony said not taking his eyes off the window.

"Yeah, but it is not too bad." Ziva said with a wince.

"I think we will get a medical professional to be the judge of that." Tony said simply with a roll of his eyes as he kept facing the window. He had his cell phone in his hand and hit Gibb's speed dial.

"Gibbs." Came the reply on the other end.

"A sniper just took a shot at us, Ziva's hit and we're pinned inside the hotel room." Tony said simply before hanging up and not waiting for a response. He knew that Gibbs and McGee were on their way here anyway and hopefully this would make them speed up.

"Tony, I think we are safe to get up now." Ziva said biting her lower lip against the throbbing

"I'm not taking any chances until we have backup that clears the outside." Tony said as he placed his hand on Ziva's right shoulder, keeping her down.

After what seemed like a couple of hours there was a knock on the door and then it flew open as Gibbs and McGee stood there with the bewildered night manager. Tony and Ziva sprang to their feet and immediately all eyes went to her bleeding shoulder. Tony stuck his gun in the waistband of his sweatpants and immediately placed his hands on the wound trying to stem the flow of blood.

"All right I have a crime unit coming out to clear the area. DiNozzo you and McGee are taking her to the local hospital to get examined." Gibbs instructed with a sigh.

"No they are not." Ziva said stubbornly. "Tony may have been killed tonight and that would have been my fault. I will not risk anyone else's lives because of my problem."

"We would like to know exactly what that problem is." Gibbs said with narrowed eyes. "David, this was not a request you're heading to the hospital with McGee and DiNozzo."

"You are being a pirate now." Ziva said with a grimace from the pain.

"I think you meant tyrant Ziva." McGee said with an arched eyebrow.

"Whatever, same difference." Ziva grumbled as the pain was starting to overwhelm her.

"You're driving McGee so let's get moving. We'll call you from the hospital boss." Tony said with a glance at Gibbs.

"Just get her some medical treatment before she passes out on us." Gibbs said shaking his head.

* * *

McGee and Tony were sitting in the waiting room as Ziva was being treated. It was driving them both nuts that they didn't know what was going on or how bad the wound was. It seemed like hours before Gibbs entered the hospital with a frown on his face. He took a seat next to the two of them and they waited patiently for any news about what was going on with Ziva. Finally the doctor walked out and sent them a confused look.

"What are you still doing here?" The doctor asked them with an arched eyebrow.

"We're waiting for Ziva." Tony said not liking the look he was getting from the doctor at that point.

"I discharged Ms. David about an hour and half ago. She isn't here anymore." The doctor said with a shake of his head. "It looks like your friend snuck out on you."

* * *

Ziva sucked in a deep breath as she leaned back against the door of her apartment. It had taken her a long time to find a way back there but she had. Now it was about trying to figure out how she was going to make sure she lost the rest of the team so that no one else risked getting hurt because of her. She needed to go out there and face her past on her own, even if it meant that she was going to die and that the team would have to hurt for a little while. The fact of the matter was that they would be able to survive because they would be given the chance to live. Abby would have the chance to finally be with McGee, once she stopped denying her feelings. Gibbs would be safe and able to run the team and Tony would eventually move on. It wasn't like he was in love with her anyway, not like she was with him.

"I must let them have the chance to survive without me, I can not put their lives at risk because of my Mossad past." Ziva said with tears in her eyes.

"Why don't you let everyone make their own decisions my dear?" Ducky asked stepping out from her kitchen.

Ziva jumped and then groaned. She should have known that they would send someone to try and detain her until they got back. But just sending Ducky wasn't very smart because she could overpower him without a second thought.

"That's why Gibbs also ordered Abby and Palmer to accompany me." Ducky said as if reading her mind. "You my dear are in big trouble with Tony. He is going to stick to you like glue now."

Ziva just looked at him confused and walked over to her couch to sit down and wait for the other three to show up. She saw Palmer and Abby sitting there watching TV and noticed the glare that Abby sent her way and decided to avoid sitting near her new friend. She had a feeling she was going to be doing a lot of explaining which meant she was going to have to hurry up and make something up and find a new plan to get away from everyone because there was no way she could keep them all in the line of fire because of her past.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Ziva looked up when she heard her apartment door open and saw Tony, McGee and Gibbs walk in with deadly looks on their faces. When they walked over to her she could tell she had some explaining to do. She sighed and waited for Abby, Palmer and Ducky to leave but was surprised when they just stayed put, turning the television off.

"I could have underpowered them." Ziva pointed out with an arched eyebrow.

"Overpowered, Ziva." Tony snapped at her. "You wouldn't have laid a hand on Abby, Palmer or Ducky and you know it."

"What is wrong with you?" Ziva asked confused as she stared at her partner.

"How can you ask that when it's so obvious? Now I can't let you out of my sight for even two seconds." Tony grumbled as he took a seat opposite her. He crossed his arms and just stared at her with an angry glare that made it clear he was serious.

Ziva could tell almost immediately that any plan she may have come up with to ditch her friends wasn't going to work. She could already tell that Gibbs was ready to kill her for running off again without one of them with her and she knew that McGee and Tony seemed hurt that she left them hanging at the hospital like that. She sighed and leaned back into the couch cushions. She still couldn't tell them the truth about what was going on because that would put them in worse danger but she would try and find a way to solve this without completely ditching them. It would mean putting herself in worse danger but she knew the only way to ensure her team and friends were safe was to let this person have their revenge.

* * *

Tony knew that Ziva was upset about something but wouldn't say. It was starting to hurt that she didn't feel like she could confide in him and let him know what was going on inside that head of hers. They were partners and he had thought that they were friends as well. So the fact that she didn't feel like she could trust him enough with whatever was going on was killing him inside. Tony looked over as Gibbs' phone rang and he could tell by the dark look that a case had come in.

"McGee, Abby, Ducky and Palmer are with me. We have a dead Marine down at the Twilight Hotel on Maine Street." Gibbs said clearly not wanting to have to work this case. "Doesn't mean I forgot about the person who shot at you, that evidence is enroute to Abby's lab and while we are working this scene Abby can start on that evidence." Gibbs said with a glare at Ziva who seemed relieved.

"You should take Tony, yes?" Ziva asked with a suggestive look.

"No I shouldn't take DiNozzo because he is sticking to you like glue David." Gibbs said sarcastically as he glared at his Mossad Liaison Officer. "Don't make me call your father in on this one David." He threatened.

That did the trick as Ziva quickly shut up and gave a small smile towards Tony. "Looks like I am stuck with you no?" Ziva asked with a sigh.

"Gee make it sound like a death sentence why don't you." Tony grumbled as the team left.

"You staying with me could become your death sentence." Ziva muttered under her breath as she got up from the couch. "You are hungry yes?"

"I lost my appetite when I thought you went and got yourself killed." Tony said as he got to his feet and followed her into the kitchen.

"You could not lose your appetite." Ziva said arching an eyebrow.

"Well I did." Tony said defensively as he watched her.

Tony was standing in the kitchen opposite his partner. He could feel the old feelings that had always been there slowly rising up. He wasn't all that sure what he was going to do about them but he couldn't ignore them anymore. His fear for Ziva's safety and her little game had taken a toll on him emotionally and physically. Sighing he watched her cook some eggs. All of the frustration he was feeling was slowly building up inside of him and he wasn't all that sure what he was going to do about it or if there was anything at all he could do about it. Tony wanted nothing more than to just tell Ziva he had feelings for her but he was worried that that would make her want to run away more than ever. He kept his mouth shut and his feelings to himself as he just stood there and watched her.

* * *

Ziva could tell that Tony was fighting and internal war and she wasn't sure what it was about. She could tell that nothing she did at this point would get her away from him though. He was more determined than ever to keep her in his sights and that meant that Ziva would have to be quick about her plans. However if Gibbs called Mossad and told them of the danger she was in and what she had been up to then there was no doubt that Mossad would step in and she would have no chance in getting away from her fellow trained officers. She had to think of what she could possibly do next. Could she trust Tony with her deepest and darkest secret?

* * *

Gibbs and the rest of the team worked tirelessly on everything they had. They were now working two cases and instead of admitting they might need help they worked harder. Gibbs could see how worn down Abby was with all of the evidence lining up in her lab. He was about to offer her McGee when her remembered McGee was the only Agent helping him right now and there was no way he could spare him. Ziva had better have a good reason for this whole thing otherwise he might just see her transferred back to Mossad without a backwards glance, of course this would only happen after the team had gotten her out of whatever trouble she was in this time.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Ziva sighed as she and Tony finished eating. It had taken some doing but she had finally convinced Tony that the food wasn't dosed with anything and she even had to give her word that she would not go anywhere without him. She could feel the adrenaline that had been keeping her upright slowly seeping away and the old exhaustion she had been feeling was making it's appearance. She groaned and headed towards her bedroom but stopped dead in her tracks when she heard Tony following her.

"I am only going to bed, you know where the guest room is Tony." Ziva said with a confused look.

"Sorry sweet cheeks but you lost the right to go to bed alone when you left me and Mcgeek at the hospital like you did." Tony said shaking his head. "After you." He said pointing towards her bedroom.

Ziva felt like screaming but instead decided to torture Tony. If he insisted on sharing a room with her then she would make his life miserable. As they entered her bedroom she slowly undressed since the pajama's she had been wearing were soaked in her blood and were all grimy. As she stood in just her underwear she could tell that Tony was freaking out.

* * *

Tony wasn't sure what Ziva was up to but he could tell that it was something bad. He tried to keep his mouth shut and not say anything but as she walked over to her dresser to get some clothes that she had left behind when she had left he could feel his body reacting to her. His internal war just became an all out battle to stay focused and not let her win.

"We are sharing the bed then yes?" Ziva asked putting on a t-shirt and nothing else.

"Yes." Tony managed to get out, proud that his voice sounded somewhat normal.

"You are coming then yes?" Ziva asked patting the bed next to her with a smirk on her face. "We have shared a bed before Tony."

"Yes I know." Tony nodded his head as he walked to the other side of the bed and sat down. He kept his back to Ziva hoping she wouldn't know the way she was affecting him at this very moment.

"Are you all right Tony?" Ziva asked very aware that she was causing a lot of turmoil.

"Fine." Tony said deciding that a one word answer would be better at the moment rather than a sentence.

They both laid down on the bed and under the covers, Tony trying to not touch Ziva and Ziva trying not to laugh at how careful he was trying to be. She felt the pain medication wearing off and could feel the wound in her shoulder starting to throb but she refused to acknowledge the pain. At least she was trying not to until she turned onto her left side, trying to forget about the wound and felt the sharp pain shoot through her body. She immediately sat up and held her shoulder trying not to show the tears she knew were in her eyes.

"Ziva you need to be careful. Here let me see it." Tony whispered as he gently placed his hand on her other shoulder.

* * *

Ziva shook her head afraid to speak, knowing her voice would reflect the pain she was feeling. She was beginning to regret that she had told the doctor not to bother with the prescription for pain medication. A Mossad officer did not show any pain and taking medication would only dull her senses.

"Did you get a prescription?" Tony asked her simply.

Ziva shook her head again and stayed sitting up, gripping her injured shoulder.

"You need to stop being so stubborn." Tony said with a sigh as he forced Ziva to look at him. The look of pure agony on her face undid him and there was only one thing he could think of that would help her forget about the pain in her shoulder for that moment. He leaned in and kissed her hard on the lips. When he felt her responding to his kiss he wasn't sure what to do next but he kept kissing her.

When the two of them finally broke apart there was nothing but a stunned silence in the room between the two of them. There had been innocent flirtation and simple barbs but the two had never crossed the line between co-workers and friends to that something more part. They had gone undercover as married lovers and still managed to maintain the simple line. Now they were in her bed together and they had just kissed, and there was no reasonable explanation for the fact that they both had enjoyed it.

"You were trying to help me yes?" Ziva asked confused.

"Right that's it. This was about making you forget the pain in your shoulder." Tony said looking for an excuse so he wouldn't have to tell her the truth. He had been wanting to kiss her since the moment they had first met after Kate had been killed. It was the forbidden factor that she gave off that gave it an appeal.

"This was an episode from one of your movies?" Ziva asked not picking up on the fact that Tony didn't want to talk about it.

"Scene Ziva, I think you mean scene." Tony said with a smile. It was the way she always got her sayings wrong that made her seem more human. He gulped when he saw the look on her face that said she wasn't sure she believed him.

"You did not do that for my shoulder did you DiNozzo?" Ziva asked quietly.

* * *

Tony just stared at her, he didn't want to answer that question, not now and not ever. There was no way he was going to tell her the truth that he had been dreaming about this moment for as long as he could remember. He had only thought that when they had kissed it would have been because they had both decided that their feelings for each other would surpass any consequences NCIS would bestow on them as partners who became more. He knew by the look on her face though that she knew exactly what he was thinking about and that scared him more than anything.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Gibbs was getting more and more frustrated as he looked over the evidence that was in front of him. There was nothing left behind at the shooting scene and no way to know why someone wanted to kill Ziva. He was sure that this had something to do with her past as a Mossad officer but he wasn't sure why she wouldn't just admit to that. There had to be a reason that she was refusing to tell them anything or why she was so determined to get away from them.

"Boss, do you think Ziva is hiding something?" McGee asked walking over to his desk.

"Way to state the obvious McGee." Gibbs said arching an eyebrow.

"No I mean about what she knows. It's obvious that she believes someone is trying to kill her but why?" McGee asked confused.

"That is what we are trying to find out McGee." Gibbs said with a sigh. "That is what we are trying to find out." He whispered to himself and stared at the evidence report Abby had sent him.

* * *

Ziva was getting frustrated as she watched Tony avoid looking at her. Ever since their kiss the night before he had been avoiding any type of eye contact with her. He kept his talking down to a minimum and normally she would enjoy that but since they were stuck here together and it was obvious that something was going on it was starting to drive her insane. Finally she had had it. If he was going to avoid the issue over a little kiss then she would force the issue and make him have to talk to her.

"That's it Tony." Ziva said as she walked over and stood in front of her. "It is obvious you do not want to be here so leave. I will find someone who wants to be here with me."

"Don't think so." Tony grumbled as he kept his eyes focused straight at the floor and not looking up at her.

"I think so." Ziva said frustrated as she knelt in front of him and lifted his chin. She forced him to look her in the eyes and what she saw shocked her straight to the core.

Tony wasn't sure what to do now that Ziva was making him look at her. All day he had done his best to not bother with looking at her straight on. He didn't want her to know how conflicted he was over everything. It was killing him that he couldn't tell her the truth and knowing what would happen if he did. Jenny might have given them a shot at working but not Vance. Leon Vance was a hard ass and he wasn't going to even think twice about transferring one of them out. He was deafly afraid that he would never see her again if that happened.

"Just drop the issue." Tony growled pushing her hand away from his face.

"I can not do that." Ziva whispered and then sighed. "I care to much about what you think." Ziva admitted softly. "You asked me once if I had ever lied to the ones I loved, do you remember?"

"Sure. It was in Jeanne's apartment after my cover was blown and you were helping me look for her after we found out she was the target of 'DiNardo's" car blowing up." Tony said confused on why she brought that up.

"Why don't you think about that for an hour." Ziva said rolling her eyes.

"The term is think about that for a minute." Tony said correcting her with a grin. He wasn't really sure where she was going with this but at this point if she left him alone so he could think about what she wanted him to think about then it was all good for him.

"I will make us something to eat then." Ziva said with a sigh as she headed towards the kitchen.

* * *

Ziva was sure that Tony had no idea why she wanted him to think about what she said but there was no way she was going to tell him. She was sure at this point that he didn't feel the same way she felt and it was killing her to know that he wasn't in love with her the way she was in love with him. She started to make some pancakes deciding something simple was in her best interest right now when she noticed something wasn't right. She frowned and went to her kitchen window, wondering what it was that was bothering her. She glanced out and noticed a flash of light from the window across from her. Her eyes went wide.

"Tony!" She yelled just before she took cover as the window exploded and shards of glass flew everywhere.

* * *

Tony heard Ziva scream his name and then he heard the breaking of glass. He jumped up from the couch and rushed to the kitchen to see the window broken and Ziva lying on the ground with glass covering her body.

"Zi!" Tony yelled as he walked across the glass, not caring that he was barefoot and it was digging into the bottom of his foot. He could see the blood on the floor where he was stepping but his main focus at the moment had to be on Ziva. "Ziva tell me that you're all right." Tony said when he made it to her and knelt beside her, forgetting protocol and the fact that there still could be a shooter outside with him in his sights. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Gibbs. As soon as the phone was answered Tony shouted that there had been a shooting at Ziva's and that they needed backup.

Ziva groaned as she finally started to move. She was lying there trying not to throw up from the pain shooting through her injured shoulder. She could already tell that Tony was injured now and she was concerned about him.

"You are bleeding." She pointed out as she sat up.

"It doesn't matter." Tony said as he grabbed her and kissed her. Letting all the emotions he was feeling at that moment express them through that kiss. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest and he knew he was in trouble. He almost lost her and now he needed to find a way to show he couldn't lose her ever again.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Tony was sitting on the couch as McGee and Gibbs looked over the kitchen. Another agent had already cleared where the shooter had fired from and there was nothing left behind. Tony glanced over at Ziva who was keeping her eyes focused straight ahead. He could already tell that she was trying to find a way to get away from the team yet again.

"Forget it Zi." Tony muttered as the paramedic finished wrapping his feet.

"Forget what?" Ziva asked with a confused look.

"Forget trying to sneak away from us again. I am going to need to sleep at some point and if I have to continuously worry about you sneaking away from me then I don't think I am going to end up very well rested." Tony said with a sigh.

"I told you I would not sneak away again. You do not trust me do you?" Ziva asked softly.

"I don't know what to think right now." Tony admitted.

When the two of them were sitting alone and Gibbs and McGee were outside talking over the evidence Ziva was ready to confront Tony.

"You always kiss me and yet you feel nothing." Ziva said with a sigh. "You must stop doing that Tony."

"What makes you think I feel nothing?" Tony asked arching his eyebrows.

"You refuse to look at me after you kiss me. You also refuse to acknowledge what is going on." Ziva said simply.

"I'll tell you what. Let's make a deal, you tell me what is really going on and who this person is that wants you dead and I will tell you why I keep kissing you." Tony said leaning back into the couch. His feet were killing him and he could tell that Ziva wasn't her normal Mossad self. She was keeping her gaze down on the ground and only glanced at him from time to time. He could also clearly see that she was rattled and he didn't think there was anything that could do that to her. He had never seen her in this position before and it scared him. Ziva was supposed to be his unstoppable assassin.

"I have my share of secrets Tony and many of them you do not want to know. Many of them I wish I did not have to live with." Ziva whispered her voice close to breaking. "But this one is one that you are not going to want to have me deal with. This is one secret you are not going to want any part of."

"Zi, we are partners and I would hope that you would also see me as a friend. I can promise you that there is nothing that is going to change my opinion of you. There is nothing you could say or do that would make me think twice about keeping you safe and alive." Tony said knowing he was close to breaking her. He knew he had to get her to trust him enough to tell him who was trying to kill her and why.

"Tony, as a Mossad Officer I have done things that now I see were wrong. I can not honestly sit here and tell you all my deep dark secrets." Ziva said getting annoyed now.

"Then tell me the one that I need to know. Tell me the one that has someone trying to kill you right now. Tell me the secret that I can fix to keep the woman I am totally head over heels in love with alive." Tony said frustrated.

"You are in love with me?" Ziva asked her eyes going wide. She was not expecting that.

"You know sometimes I wonder how you can be so observant over other things but be completely oblivious to the one thing that has been right in front of your face the whole time." Tony said rolling his eyes.

"You are just oblivious as I was." Ziva whispered.

"You're in love with me?" Tony asked doing one of those Scooby-Doo double takes. "You could have said something earlier."

"So could you have not?" Ziva said screwing up her English again.

"Huh? Never mind, it doesn't matter now." Tony said as he got up and winced as he walked over to where Ziva was sitting. "The point is that now that I know how you feel and now that you know how I feel we are going to be in this together no matter what. I am not letting whoever is trying to kill you, kill you. You might as well spill it Zi, I am not going anywhere so I should know what I am up against."

Ziva stared at Tony. Her mind was spinning a mile a minute and she wanted to just be able to tell him everything. She wanted to tell him what it was that she had done that was causing this person to want her dead. She wanted to trust him enough to know he would never leave her side and that they could get through this together. However the big problem was she wasn't so sure they could get through this. She was positive that if she told Tony the truth that he would no longer love her, that he would hate her and look the other way.

"I can not tell you why they want to kill me now but I will tell you something you did not know. I will confide one secret in you." Ziva said making a split second decision.

"I guess that will have to do for now." Tony said rolling his eyes.

"I betrayed my own family." Ziva said softly as she stared at the ground.

"What are you talking about?" Tony asked with a sigh.

"Gibbs did not kill Ari, I did." Ziva said her voice shaking as once again her mind flashed back to Gibbs basement where she had killed her half brother. She knew it was necessary but at the same time it still haunted her. Like many of her prior kills it stayed with her, making it hard to sleep at night. She felt lonely and that having anyone love her would be a miracle. When her real secret got out she would lose everything she held dear.

"Zi, tell me who is trying to kill you." Tony said, he didn't want her to know he already knew that one. He needed her to tell him the truth. He needed her to trust him with what could be her biggest secret of all.


	9. Chapter 9

AN: Sorry i haven't updated in a while but I was in the hospital and I just got released not to long ago. I might be going back in though because I am really sick and have a permenent IV in my arm so typing is hard for me folks so updates are going to be hard for me, this isn't my best update but I wanted to give something to you. Thank you for any reviews and please be nice, I need some nice comments right about now. I will try and update as quickly as I can but like I said I have tons of appointments and it's hard to type right now so bear with me please!

* * *

Chapter 9

Ziva was staring at Tony with uncertainty in her gaze. Although she now knew that the feelings she had been battling he was also feeling she didn't think she could tell him who it was trying to kill her. She was battling with herself and it was already wearing her down. She didn't know how much longer she could fight with him and it scared her that she might spill a secret that could get Tony killed even though they were already in harms way.

* * *

Tony knew the minute that Ziva had made the decision and he knew that it wasn't in his favor. He simply sighed and wondered what it was going to take to get her to open up to him. What else could he tell her to get her to see that there was nothing in her past that could ever change the way he felt about her? What else could he tell her that would make her see that all he wanted to do was save her life and keep her safe from this maniac?

"Ziva David you are one stubborn woman." Tony said with a growl of frustration.

"I haven't said anything. How do you know I wasn't going to tell you anything and you just blew it by saying that?" Ziva asked with an angry scowl.

"Because I can read your expressions Ms. David and I know for a fact that you weren't going to tell me anything." Tony said with a roll of his eyes. "One of these days I am going to get you to open up to me the way you should. I am determined to get inside that beautiful little head of yours Zeee-vaaaa." Tony said dragging out her name in his usual manner giving her the famous DiNozzo grin.

* * *

Ziva nearly gave in when Tony grinned at her but she reminded herself what was at stake. This wasn't just about her anymore, this was about everyone she was close to. She was sure that soon this person was going to start going after them to get to her. She had to find a way to keep her new friends safe because they were more like her family now. She didn't want to be the one responsible for their deaths.

* * *

"You missed." The boss said simply as they stared at their hired assassin. "You said you never miss."

"Yeah well you didn't tell me she was a cop." The assassin said with a scowl.

"She is Mossad, that should have told you something." The boss said slamming their fist down on the table where surveillance photo's of the target in question were spread out.

"What do you wanna kill her for anyway? She seems like a good person to me from what I have seen. Plus she has so many people watching her back now it's going to cost you double if you want the job done right." The assassin said shrugging his shoulders.

"You failed, why would I pay you anything for tipping my hand?" The boss said pulling a gun and putting a bullet right between the assassin's eyes. "You will be my message to her instead."

* * *

Ziva sat staring out the window of safe house that Gibb's had been insistent that Tony and Ziva stay in for a few days till they healed a little from their encounters. Ziva glanced at the three guns she was currently cleaning and the four knives she was sharpening. She knew Tony was asleep and if she wanted to sneak away now would be the time to do it but she couldn't betray his trust not after everything that he had gone through for her. She sighed as she put the gun in her hand back together and then reached for another one only to hear a sound behind her. She cocked the weapon in her hand and turned prepared to shoot only to see Tony standing there with his hands up.

"You have a death wish, yes?" Ziva asked as she rolled her eyes and put the clean gun back down and once again reached for the dirty one she wanted to clean.

"Well it looks like we are well armed for a war." Tony said as he saw the weapons sitting in front of her.

"Not really, this would hardly last in a war." Ziva said shaking her head not catching on to the sarcasm in Tony's voice. "Did you want me to clean your weapon?"

"No, I can do it." Tony said shaking his head as he walked over and sat next to her and watched her work quickly taking the weapon apart.

"I am sorry about the trouble." Ziva whispered after a few awkward moments of silence.

"If you are truly sorry then tell me Zi, tell me why someone is doing this to you. Tell me how I can stop them so we can put an end to this and be together like we should have been for a while." Tony said with a sigh.

"You could not tell me about Jeanne because it was a case. I can not tell you about this for the same reason. It was a Mossad Case Tony and I can not break Mossad code, not even for you." Ziva said shaking her head as much as she hated lying to Tony or bringing up Jeanne she figured it was the best bet she had at getting him to drop the case.

"What would you like to know about Jeanne? I will tell you everything I can if you talk to me about what I can do to save the woman I love from being killed." Tony said with a pleading look.

"You are willing to break the rules for me?" Ziva asked clearly shocked. She didn't think Tony would go this far for her.

"I am willing to do anything for you Ziva." Tony whispered hoping he was breaking through to her soft side that might tell him what he needed to know.

Ziva just stared at him, unsure of what to do at this point. If Tony was willing to break the rules for her could she break the rules for him?


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Tony looked at her with nothing but love and trust shining in his eyes. He wanted to make sure she understood how much he loved her and was willing to break any rule or regulation for her. He made the decision in his mind that he would tell her whatever she wanted to know about any case that she wanted to know about. He was going to do anything to gain her trust so she would talk to him about the killer hunting her down.

"I never saw his face Tony, I don't know if it really is the person I think it is. At the same time they could have hired someone to kill me." Ziva surprised him with a sigh.

"I am willing to tell you anything about anything if you promise to confide in me when I am done spilling my guts." Tony said leaning back in his chair.

Ziva just stared at him with unsure eyes and a tight lipped mouth. He could tell that she was upset at the offer and at the same time curious. "How many things can I ask you about?"

"I'll tell you what, if you promise you will tell me what I want to know then you can ask me about as many things as you want as long as it doesn't take all day and you don't use it as a stall tactic." Tony said knowing she would have done that and used as many days to question him as she could.

* * *

Ziva wasn't sure if she wanted to take the deal. She was nervous and she knew what telling him would do to him. Once he found out what had happened and why this person wanted her dead he would side with them, she was sure of it but at the same time it would be nice to finally confide in someone about what had happened in her home in Tel Aviv, Israel. She bit her bottom lip as she continued to think and she closed her eyes and fought with herself more and more because she knew she was thinking of accepting the deal. She was leaning towards telling him everything about herself including things that had nothing to do with this case. She opened her eyes and stared into Tony's trusting and questioning eyes. She knew he trusted her to watch his back and now he was asking her for that same trust. The problem was she had never trusted anyone as much as he wanted her to trust him, not even her own family got that kind of trust which was sad and it hurt her to think about it that way.

* * *

Gibbs was getting more and more angry. There seemed to be no evidence that could help them track down the person who was attacking Ziva and Tony. He could feel his blood boiling and saw the looks on McGee, Abby, Ducky's and Palmers faces. They could tell that he was struggling to not take out his frustration on them but at the moment it was a losing battle. No one attacked his family and make no mistake his team was his family. After losing Chris and then Jenny he was not going to keep losing members of his family. No one attacked Ziva who was like a daughter to him or Tony who was like a son. There was going to be trouble once they caught the person behind all of this and make no mistake they would catch them.

"Abby is there anything else you need to run? Anymore evidence that needs processing, because if you are down here when there is something else that needs to be processed we are going to have a problem?" Gibbs said with clenched teeth. He didn't want to yell at Abby and he hoped she caught his drift to head back to her lab. She didn't get it.

"Nope." She said simply shaking her head.

"Uhh Abby, Ducky, and Palmer maybe you two should go over the evidence again." McGee said catching the look on Gibbs' face.

"Good idea." Ducky said also knowing as he dragged the protesting Abby and Palmer away from the desks and down towards the lab.

"I want this guy more than anything McGee." Gibbs whispered.

"So do I sir." McGee said with a sigh.

* * *

Ziva was still struggling when she made her decision, she needed to trust somebody and if she wanted Tony to believe she really did love him then she needed to show she trusted him as well.

"I accept your deal and I think we will start with your father. I want to know why you two are not close." Ziva said jumping in to the questions right away.

Tony winced not expecting that to come up but knowing that he could not avoid the very first question she asked. He sighed and took a deep breath preparing to answer the one question he wanted to avoid like the plague he had already suffered through. "My father is a man that makes your father look like a saint. Now my dad doesn't shoot people or run a Mossad type of government branch, he's just a stubborn, arrogant rich man. He and I had a falling out over my fiancée."

"You had a fiancée?" Ziva asked doing a double take. She didn't know that Tony had been engaged, she didn't think anyone knew that.

"My dad slept with her the night of the rehearsal dinner. I caught them in bed when I went to grab my suitcase to go to the hotel. They were in my bed and she didn't apologize. Apparently she just wanted to get to my dad for his money." Tony said bitterly.

"And?" Ziva asked not sure he was finished.

"She became my stepmom." Tony admitted with a sigh. "I don't see either of them although I have been told I have some younger siblings."

"How about we go rub it in their face how good looking and successful you are now?" Ziva suggested.

"No, I will go there when I am married and my wife is pregnant so I can make sure to let him know he will never see his grandkids, ever." Tony said with a bitter smirk on his face.

"Okay I am only going to ask you one more question. Tell me about Jeanne." Ziva said softly.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Tony stared at Ziva unsure of how he was going to explain Jeanne. There was a lot of feelings he was still unsure of himself when it came to her. He knew that he had some feelings for her but nothing compared to what he felt for Ziva but he didn't want to put her off and make her think that he didn't really have feelings for her but that he had feelings for Jeanne. Sighing he just stared at her not knowing where to start or even what she wanted to know.

"What is it you want to know about Jeanne?" Tony asked suddenly.

"Everything." Ziva said simply not making this any easier for him.

"She was a great person. She had a great heart and she really cared about things. It was almost like she was so sensitive and caring that she would get upset if someone she didn't even know died." Tony said describing her.

"So the complete opposite of me. Is that why you were attracted to her?" Ziva asked with a sigh of her own.

"I wasn't attracted to her at first. She had to grow on me immediately because it was an assignment." Tony said with an frustrated look on his face. "If I screwed this up then I don't know what would have happened. I needed everyone to believe she was my girlfriend and that included opening myself up to someone who wasn't going to be in my life for much longer."

"I understand it must of have been hard but why accept the assignment?" Ziva asked the one question that had been bugging her.

"I felt like it was important for me to be the one doing the assignment since when  
I accepted it I was in charge because Gibbs had left us." Tony explained.

* * *

Gibbs was getting more and more agitated as he waited for something that would lead them to their guy. He wanted this one in custody more than he wanted anything in the world at the moment. He was getting so frustrated he wasn't sure how much longer he could handle being nice to people. He wanted this killer and he wanted him badly. They hadn't told Ziva but in the apartment from where he had shot at them from there was a dead body in there. This guy had killed someone to get the better shot at them and that meant he was ruthless and willing to go the distance and that made him a very dangerous person.

McGee could tell that there was something going on inside Gibbs head that was going to make all their lives miserable for a while. He knew that with Ziva and tony in danger it made things really bad for everyone. Whoever this person was that was causing this whole thing he was going to pay big time.

* * *

Ziva could tell that there was something Tony didn't want to tell her about Jeanne but she was insistent that she be told everything there was to be told. She wanted nothing more than to get him to confide fully in her but how could she ask that when she wasn't fully confiding anything with him.

"He is someone from home. There was a bomb that my oldest brother Salik had planted in a building that killed someone's family. This man blames me for not warning them about Salik's plans. He was killed in a firefight not long after he planted the bomb. After that the family decided that I would pay for not warning them so they could get the little one's out of the house but I did not know. I swear Tony I would not allow children to be killed for a petty reason, I did not know about the bomb. I would have warned them I would have." Ziva said before she broke down in tears and started crying.

"Ziva I'm sorry." Tony said not sure of what to say to her. He could tell that the whole situation was getting to her and he felt bad that this whole thing had happened.

"They have been after me for years, since I was a teenager. I used to be friends with one of their children and that is why they blame me the most. They think I set them up to be killed but I did not. I swear I had nothing to do with what happened to them. I did not set anyone up and I certainly would not set it up so little ones would be killed but because of who my father is and what my brother did they blame me."

Ziva was crying and Tony wasn't sure how to make her feel better. He was expecting some sort of story but not one like that. He didn't even know she had siblings other then her sister that he had been told about. He was about to joke that her English had been right on but realized now would be the wrong time for that. She was to distressed to like the joke. He was a klutz when it came to comforting crying women. He always managed to say the wrong thing and so he did the only thing he could think of. He grabbed her and just held her close to him. He stroked her hair and just let her cry her heart out the way she most likely needed to at the moment.

Ziva was shocked as she felt Tony comforting her. She was sure that her crying would make him want leave her and that thought had only made her cry harder but now that she realized he wasn't going anywhere it was making her feel so much better.

"I am sorry." She said pulling away. " I do not usually cry like that."

"Ziva you don't have to be perfect. You are a human being and you are allowed to have feelings and you're allowed to cry every once and a while." Tony said as he gently kissed her forehead. "Please just relax and be your self."

"I am not sure I know how to do that." Ziva admitted slowly.

"I could show you if you want." Tony said with a small smile.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Ziva just stared at Tony not sure if she wanted to know what he meant by that. Sighing she shook her head and laughed thinking it was what Tony did best. She just sat next to him and continued to hold his hand realizing it was comforting her more than she thought it would. It meant the world to her that she could take comfort from someone she had secretly loved for years. It was then she realized that this was something a boyfriend would do for his girlfriend but it was also what friends did and she was confused. He had made comments that showed he wanted more from her but were they just comments or did he really want her as more than just a friend?

Ziva closed her eyes and just leaned back into the cushions of the couch wanting to finally get some sleep. Still holding Tony's hand she fell asleep rather quickly, faster than she had ever fallen asleep before and she hoped he didn't let go of her hand just because she was asleep because she would become insecure again.

_Dream _

_Ziva walks down a hallway with a baby in her arms. She looks up and Tony is holding another baby and a toddler. Ziva smiles at him and walks over and kisses him on the lips. The babies are twins and the toddler is their two year old son. The twins are their 4 month old girls and they mean the world to Ziva. Tony and Ziva have been married for 4 years now. We all walk into the living room and I gently place Talia in the swing and take Tony Jr. from him. He places Liliana in the other swing and makes sure they are both on._

_Tony Jr. picks up some toys and immediately asks his father to play with him. It's a cute site. Her family all around and everyone is safe and happy. Then the shooting starts and suddenly everyone is crying. I try to get to the twins but they have already been killed there is blood everywhere. When I try to get to Tony and Tony Jr. they both lay unmoving on the floor, dead. _

_Maliek walks in with a smirk on his face. He has finally finished what he started. He has killed my family out of revenge and now I am alone. I will always be alone because I could never love anyone like I love Tony._

_End Dream_

Ziva suddenly wakes up with tears streaming down her face. No matter what happens Maliek will always hunt her down. If she ever wants to be happy she must first find him and take him out. It is the only way she can have her dream family whether it is with Tony or without him is a matter for their hearts to settle once she is allowed to settle it.

Ziva looked over at Tony and saw that he was asleep she had promised not to sneak out and here she was planning to do that very thing. She knew she needed to do something or else Maliek would find them again and he would not hesitate to kill anyone he thought Ziva cared about. Ziva quickly let go of Tony's hand and was about to get up when Tony's arm shot out and stopped her from moving.

"Where are you going?" Tony asked sitting up and glaring at her. "And don't lie to me."

"All right I was going to leave but you don't understand Maliek…" Ziva trailed off as her eyes went wide, she had revealed too much information.

"So that's his name, Maliek?" Tony asked although he didn't need her confirmation to know that. "Ziva it wasn't that hard to reveal his name. Will you just understand that everything is going to be okay?"

"He is going to kill you Tony, one way or another he will kill you." Ziva said remembering her dream. "Even if he backs off now he will come back later and finish what he started and that's killing everyone I hold dear to me."

"Ziva, I love you and I am not letting anything happen to you." Tony said simply with a smile on his face.

Ziva just sat there unsure of what to say or do. She needed him to believe that she didn't care so that he would leave but when she was trying so hard to protect him there was no way he would think she didn't care about him. Sighing she just gave up and sat there while he stared at her waiting for her to say something.

"Look I know now is not the easiest time for you. But we will get through this." Tony said with a look of love and sympathy on his face.

"I know I have not been the easiest person to work with or live with lately but it is just because I am stressed about Maliek killing the people I care about. Tony I do love you and it hurts that he may kill you. Please understand that I do not want to see you hurt or dead." Ziva said with look of caring on her face

"We will get through this the way we get through everything. Just because there is a psycho killer on the loose doesn't mean that we have to separate or not get along. Listen to me Ziva there is nothing anyone can do that can make me want to be apart from you." Tony said as he got up and knelt before her, stroking her face gently.

She didn't know what was coming next. He was going to take away everything she loved and everything she held dear to her. She was going to pay with everything she loved and then with her own life. He was going to make her watch as he took away her friends and family. He was then going to let her know that he was the one who took away her sister. He was the one responsible for taking away the ones that she loved and she could never let her guard down. That's when he got the best thought he could wait a few years until she had a family of her own and then he would kill them. He would take them away from her forever and there was nothing she could do about it but watch helplessly.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Ziva sat in her chair behind her desk. She was watching as everyone was trying to track down Maliek, now that she had revealed his name. She kept thinking about her dream and she was thinking about how no matter what she did she was going to lose everyone she held dear to her. She was struggling with the issues that were in her mind as she laid her head down on her folded arms. She closed her eyes again, trying to let sleep claim her and praying she wouldn't have another bad dream. Gibbs was refusing to allow her to look for any information on Maliek because he thought that she might hide it from the team. He knew she wanted to go after this guy alone and she truly did. She didn't want to risk the lives of those she cared about most.

_Dream_

_Ziva was walking down the street with a baby on her hip. She was holding the hand of a toddler who was licking an ice cream cone. She was alone, Tony was not with her. Then she noticed that Abby walked up holding her own child. The two women were happily chatting away about things that they had done that week and about what they were hoping to get for their children. Christmas was coming and that was holiday that everyone else celebrated, she had agreed that this year they would celebrate Christmas, although Tony had said they could do her holiday if she preferred but she had been excited about celebrating Christmas with the people that she loved. _

_They got halfway down the block when Ziva felt a tingling on the back of her neck and before she could respond a man came out of nowhere and shot Abby, her son, the toddler, and the baby in Ziva's arms before telling her it would never be over. He ran before she could respond and she dropped to her knees, tears streaming down her face at the loss of the family and friends that she had loved so much._

_End Dream_

Ziva shot up immediately in her seat and she was breathing hard. She looked up and noticed Tony standing in front of her desk and he was watching her with concern. He took a deep breath and held out his hand for her and Ziva took it. She didn't want to be alone but she was getting more and more worried about these dreams. She didn't think she was ever going to get to sleep again. Maliek was going to kill Tony and she just knew it. She needed to get to Maliek before he got to her friends, there was just no other way around it.

* * *

Maliek was angry as he threw the knife at Ziva David's picture. She had been getting away far to often and her little lover boy was still alive. Maliek knew her friends were federal agents and that they were well trained but he was better. They should already be dead! He picked up the photo's that he had taken recently and studied the dark circles under Ziva's eyes and knew she was having trouble sleeping, good! He wanted to be the only thing she was thinking about and he was going to make sure that her whole life revolved around him and him alone!

* * *

Ziva was sitting on the couch in the new safe place that she and Tony had been stashed. Ziva was well armed and so was Tony. There were going to be no guards and there was no surveillance that would give way too much away. She looked up as Tony handed her a mug of hot chocolate.

"Thanks." She murmured softly.

"We are going to find Maliek and there is no doubt in my mind that Gibbs will eliminate him as a threat to you." Tony said as he sat down on the couch next to her.

"I keep having these dreams." Ziva admitted finally.

"What happens?' Tony asked taking a sip of his hot chocolate.

"I am a mother. I am always carrying at least one infant and there is a toddler and we are happy. The first one there were twin daughters and then a toddler son and there was you. All of you were killed in front of me. The second one I was carrying a baby and holding a toddlers hand while Abby walked with me holding her own child in her arms. They were all killed once again." Ziva admitted with tears falling slowly from her eyes. "I don't want to lose you now that we have finally come to our sense Tony."

"I don't think you are going to lose me at all." Tony said with his smirk on his face.

Ziva knew that look and shook her head. Tony took her mug out of her hand and set his and hers down on the table. Then he leaned over and gently kissed Ziva on the mouth. He knew she needed to forget and he was a DiNozzo and there was mainly one way he knew to make a woman forget something bad. He kissed her deeply and then soon they were undressed and making love for the first time.

* * *

The next morning Ziva woke up in the bedroom. She sat up slowly and looked next to her and noticed Tony was not lying there. She felt weird about the fact that last night she and Tony had crossed a major line. They had broken Gibbs' rule number 12 and there could be major problems, although it seemed like Gibbs had accepted that Tony and Ziva were in love with each other. Now that they had crossed that line Ziva was worried that things were going to get more complicated and she was even more worried about Maliek getting his hands on Tony, now more than ever.

"I made breakfast." Tony said coming into the room with a tray loaded with food.

Ziva smiled and she knew that for now she just wanted to forget. In this moment she just wanted to be happy and to pretend that she and Tony were a normal couple who weren't hiding from a serial killer who wanted to hurt them. Ziva just wanted to pretend that they could be happy and that just maybe they could have a happily ever after, even if she knew there was no way that could ever be.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Ziva was sitting on the couch watching television, she was pretty sure that something was going to happen and soon. Maliek was not the type of person who would just sit around and do nothing for a long period of time. She also knew that Tony was getting increasingly worried about her. Ziva had drawn herself into this tiny shell more and more lately, not wanting to talk to anyone, especially not Tony. She was thinking of ways to disappear and just get a way but she knew that he was not letting her out of his sight. She sighed and flipped the television off and immediately she got to her feet in the stupid safe house they were currently in. She walked to the window, carefully hiding behind the wall and keeping herself low in case of a sniper. She felt the hair on the back of her neck standing up and she knew that it meant someone was out there and someone was watching, she was sure it was Maliek, and she was also sure he was ready to make another move.

"Ziva why don't you try and get some rest?" Mcgee said as he walked over towards her.

"Shh… McGee stay away from the windows. I have a bad feeling." She said in a way of warning.

"Ziva, I am sure that there is no one out there. There is no way this guy could have found this safe house." McGee said with an arched eyebrow. He was clearly looking at her like she had lost her mind and was becoming paranoid but Ziva knew her instincts weren't getting rusty and she knew he was out there. She was ready to lose her temper when she saw Abby walking into the room, taking no precautions at all as well.

"Abby, you must get down, stay away from the windows!" Ziva hissed surprised at the forensics specialist who was staring at her with surprise on her face. The goth dressed woman was wearing her favorite chunky black boots, another one of her short plaid skirts with a chain on it and her skull and cross bones t-shirt, one that McGee had given her for her birthday. Abby's hair was in pigtails again that day and Ziva could tell that she had just finished working on the computer.

Gibbs and the Director had talked and decided to move all their work to the safe house, that way they would be safe together as a team and get to work and brainstorm together without leaving the safe area and hopefully be able to track down their killer.

"Gibbs said that the perimeter alarm is still on and hasn't gone off Ziva, no one is out there. We would have heard the alarms blaring like mad if he had crossed through and there is a warning system if someone tampers with the box that holds the power to the alarms." Abby said confused.

"It doesn't mean he doesn't have a sniper trained on the house." Gibbs said entering the room. "Ziva is right, the windows are dangerous. You enter a room that has windows that aren't blacked out, you stay low and clear and don't make yourself a target. Black out those windows, David."

"Yes Gibbs." Ziva said nodding her head as she used the specialized blinds they had to black out the windows. The window glass was bullet proof, but it didn't mean it was completely safe and no one was willing to risk the lives of everyone that was in there.

Ducky was the only one of the team that would not be working from the safe house, well besides the Director. However, Ducky had a special security team as well as his mother did to. He was being escorted to and from work and he and his mother were never left alone. They had also replaced all the glass of their windows with bullet and tamper proof glass. It was the only thing that they could think of. Ducky had originally been scheduled to join the group but his mother couldn't be placed in the type of jeopardy that staying with Ziva would have placed her and he couldn't leave her alone so he opted to stay behind with a different team working to keep him safe.

Ziva stalked out of the room, angry that it appeared that it took Gibbs for people to realize how serious this situation was. No one would listen to her when it came to safety and keeping themselves alive and it was getting to her. She stalked straight into the room she was staying in, forgetting that Tony had opted to stay in the room with her, despite that it obviously gave away their relationship to everyone at that point. She stopped dead in her tracks as she saw him standing there staring into his closet, completely and utterly naked. She groaned as she turned her back to him and quickly shut the door and locked it at the sound of footsteps hurrying after her down the hallway.

"Why did you not lock the door?" Ziva demanded keeping her back to him despite their relationship.

"I wasn't hiding anything from you, I mean you have seen it all. More than once if I can recall correctly. The first time you saw it we weren't even dating." Tony teased walking over and turning her to face him, still standing there stark naked.

"Put some type of clothing on." Ziva demanded shutting her eyes.

Tony chuckled and then leaned in and kissed her on the lips. "My little assassin, I don't know why you keep insisting on pretending that we haven't already slept together, because we have." He said as he leaned in and kissed her on the lips again.

They both turned as someone started pounding on the door. "Ziva I want to talk to you! I am so sorry if I made you feel like I wasn't listening to your warnings, I mean I know that you know this guy better than any of us considering that he is trying to kill you more than us and all…" Abby trailed off as they heard someone come towards her and grab her arm and drag her away from the door. They could hear her arguing with the person, probably McGee, as they pulled her down the hallway.

"Well where were we?" Tony asked as he tackled the woman he loved with all his heat to the bed, intent to prove to her that they had no reason to hide their feelings, not from the people they worked with and especially not from each other.

* * *

Maliek was watching the house through his sniper scope. He could already tell that the windows were most likely bullet proof, they wouldn't take any chances with the lives that were currently living within the walls in front of him. The question was, how long would it take before Ziva got bored with waiting for him and became careless enough to leave that house and look for him? He knew she was like him, knew she couldn't just sit on a couch and watch the television, she would need action and she would need to run. He knew she loved to run in the mornings, so maybe tomorrow morning he would finally get to kill the woman who he needed to kill to feel better about his life.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Ziva was smiling as she laid in the bed with Tony. They were both completely nude, since Tony had somehow convinced her that it was okay to make love even with their co-workers and their boss in the house with them. Ziva knew that there was a chance that they all knew what the two of them had been doing in the bedroom but she didn't care at the moment. She looked down to where Tony's arm was holding her tightly, his arm was banded tightly around her stomach as they cuddled, or spooned, under the sheet. She heard Tony snoring and she rolled her eyes. She would have to remember to tease him about that later, when they were no longer trying their hardest to stay alive. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was getting close to the time to start dinner and she figured she should get up and get dressed and go out there to at least start cooking for everything. She slowly lifted Tony's arm but he immediately came awake and saw up in bed as she climbed out.

"Where are you going?" He asked immediately, acting as if she was trying to sneak out of the house and run away again.

"To the kitchen to start dinner, unless you want McGee to start cooking again." Ziva said with a wince. McGee was a smart guy and he seemed to be a talented author, but he was not someone who knew his way around the kitchen that well. His last meal that he had made had nearly given them all food poisoning and so he had been banned from cooking anything in the kitchen unless he was supervised at all times.

"All right." Tony said with a wince as he watched her pull her clothing back on. "I love you Ziva, you know that right?" He asked her softly.

"I love you to, Tony." Ziva said as she stopped what she was doing and knelt on the bed and leaned over to give Tony a kiss on the lips.

"I want to be able to help you through this. I want you to trust me and I want you to let me be there for you. I know that you don't want to be protected and I know that you want to handle this on your own, but when someone is in love with someone, they let them in and they let them help. I want to be there for you Ziva, I want to be the one you turn to when you need someone. There is that and the fact that I didn't use a condom." Tony said with a small wince.

Ziva's eyes went wide as she realized the implications of what he had just said. She slowly sat down on the bed and bit her bottom lip nervously. He hadn't used protection, she knew Tony was clean and didn't have any diseases and she was clean as well, but there was a risk for pregnancy with the news.

"Okay, I was told of a new pill that there is out." Ziva said as she thought about it. "It is a pill you can use if you have fail sex." Ziva said with a sigh.

Tony smiled at her misspoken words again. "Unprotected sex, Ziva. The word is unprotected. Do you really think that someone is going to pick that up for you? Do you want to sit there and explain to them we didn't put a shield on and we need a pill to stop conception?"

"Shield? I thought we were talking about protection." Ziva said as she gave him a very confused look.

Tony tried to not laugh at her. He had to remember that English was not her primary language and that although she was getting better and her mistakes were getting less and less noticeable, they were still there. She didn't understand most of the terms that other people would understand and sometimes you had to be very direct and use only correct names and terms with her, no slang. However he couldn't resist using slang because the confusion took away the worry that had etched in her eyes with the news of his major screw up. However the more he sat there and the more he thought about it, he didn't think it was a mistake and he was beginning to think it could be a blessing. What if there was a little baby DiNozzo growing inside her, what if they had made a little miracle? He wanted to marry Ziva, sooner or later, it didn't really matter when he did it as long as he did it. He was beginning to wonder, though, if Ziva wasn't interested in being a wife and mother, or maybe it was just that she didn't want those things with him.

"Come on, could having a baby really be that bad Ziiii-vvvvaaaa…." Tony drew her name out the way he did in the office when he was trying to get her to smile and was pleased to see it worked in this situation as well.

"What would happen if there was a baby on the way? What would we do then Tony?" Ziva asked patiently.

"Well I always figured we would get married anyway, we would just have to do it a lot faster then we expected so that we would be married before a baby was born. Then we would be together and we would be welcoming our first child, of many, into the world." Tony said with a soft smile, he placed his hand on her stomach and gently massaged. "Think about it, picture it Ziva. A little girl or a little boy, a piece of the both of us." He whispered in her ear softly.

Ziva had never thought that Tony wanted to have kids and the thought that he was asking her to picture the possibility of a child, a child that they created together and a marriage that he apparently had been thinking about, really made her realize something new about him. She turned and faced him, studying him with her head cocked to the side, "and what we would do if there is a child and Maliek had not been caught? How could we bring a child into this world with such an angry and vindicated man waiting to kill me?"

"I think you mean vindictive. The word you used, vindicated, means someone who is in the right and has gotten his way or been proved right, something like that I think, I don't know we need a dictionary to know but I know the word you mean is vindictive." Tony said automatically correcting her. "No matter what happens we would be on our guard Ziva, we would protect each other and any children we had together. So will you think about marrying me, whether there is a baby in there or not?"

"Are you proposing to me?" Ziva asked in shock.

* * *

Maliek was so impatient but he knew that tomorrow morning, Ziva was going to need to run. He had grown to know more and more about the woman he hated with everything inside of him, and he knew that no matter what the risk was, she had to get outside. She was not the type of person who cared about being safe or staying inside, she was the type of person who had to have her way or no way at all. She would risk everything to run, she would need to.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Ziva was in shock as she sat there with Abby. She was still unsure of what to say or think at the moment, since Tony had gone out with Gibbs a while ago and when he come back he had pulled her aside and slipped a ring on her finger, Ziva had known then that he really wanted to marry her and it wasn't a joke. He had rubbed her stomach again and said that he really hoped that they had made a baby, even though they wouldn't find out if there was one of any chance of one for weeks, he was really hoping there was. Ziva couldn't believe how much things had changed in the past week since finding out that Maliek was back in the picture and attempting to take her out of the picture for something that had happened in the past. She was finally becoming happy and then she felt like it was time for her to move on and now she was in shock and unsure of what she was feeling at the thought of becoming Mrs. Anthony DiNozzo and carrying baby DiNozzo in her belly.

"I can't believe you still haven't given him an answer." Abby said as she sat there pouting and staring at the gorgeous ring that Tony had picked out and placed on her finger and told her not to take it off. "Why haven't you answered him yet?"

"I don't know what to say." Ziva admitted as she bit her bottom lip and started to nervously tap her fingers on the table in front of them.

"Well what is in your heart Ziva?" Abby asked her simply.

"Love, lots and lots of love. But every time I think about a future with him, I keep thinking about Maliek appearing out of the blue and killing him and our children and everyone I hold near to me." Ziva said as she got to her feet and admitted what her fear were. "I don't think I could take it if I married him and had babies with him and then lost them, if something were to happen to him and our kids because of me, well that would kill me Abby."

"Look, you and I both know that Gibbs is the wrong person to be messed with. He is going to find this creep, Maliek, and make him regret the day he was ever born. Maliek is going to wish he had stayed in Israel and never shown his face in the United States of America. He is going to make him wish he had never messed with Gibbs, the man who never lets anything happen to the people he really cares about and Ziva, you are in that category. Think about how hard he has fought for you." Abby pointed out as she faced her friend.

"But why would he want to fight for me after how things started out with us? I don't even understand why all of you like me at all, considering it was my brother who killed someone you all held near to you." Ziva said with a confused look on her face.

"Ziva, what Ari did was not your fault. I know in the beginning I was not the nicest person to you and I know that after a lot of different things happened I was probably the worst person in the world to you and the last person you ever wanted to be around. I think of you as family now Ziva, just like Tony is family and I want you both to be happy and I know that you both love each other and that the only way you both will be happy is being married and having children with each other." Abby said stubbornly. "You go into the other room, you take Tony by the hand and you take him back to the bedroom you two are sharing now, you kiss him and you apologize for not screaming out the answer yes and you tell him you will marry him and you will be the mother of his babies, as many babies and little DiNozzo's that he wants running around and you two will spend the rest of your lives together."

Ziva smiled as she looked at her good friend and hugged her close before she ran out of the room and found Tony sitting there and frowning as he stared at the wall. Gibbs and McGee appeared to be trying to cheer him up, most likely because he thought she was going to say no.

"Tony we need to talk."Ziva said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him out of his chair and dragged him down the hall. Once they were in their bedroom she shut and locked the door and leaned against it, feeling nervous now that they were alone in the bedroom and she could see the bed they had slept together in.

"What is it Ziva? Are you going to throw the ring in my face and tell me you aren't ready to marry me? Are you going to tell me that you don't want to have my kids anytime soon or ever? Are you going to tell me that you don't even love me or that what happened between us in this room was a fluke and you never want it to happen again?" Tony asked her, clearly not happy with her not answering him and clearly jumping to conclusions about what was going on in her head.

"Is that what you want me to say?" Ziva asked him softly.

"Of course it is. I mean all I did was tell you that I hope we had made a baby together, all I did was ask you to marry me more than once and all I did was sneak out in disguise with Gibbs and spend a ton of money on that ring." Tony said sarcastically. "You know what? I think I am going to move to another room and let you have this one all to yourself. Just keep the ring, pawn it if you want to, I don't care anymore. If we did make a baby then we can figure something…" Tony was cut off by Ziva slamming her lips down onto his to shut him up.

"You talk to much." Ziva said simply as she held him tightly to her.

"So what does this mean? Are you going to marry me Ziva? Are you going to tell me what is holding you back? What is it that is making you not want to get married and start a family with me? Please Ziva, tell me what the problem is." Tony told her, wrapping his arms around her waist because he really didn't want to let her go. He said he would walk away but he kept thinking he didn't want to lose her, he didn't want to lose everything that was making him happy. He needed to know what was going on inside of her head, and he needed to know fast so he could convince her that they could fix it.


	17. Chapter 17

Authors Note: Thanks fans for reading and reviewing! it means the world. Sry it has taken me so long to update but I am battling health issues and we are getting ready to move. I will try my hardest to update faster. Please keep reading and reviewing, it's the reviews that let me know people actually want another chapter from inside my head, LOL!

Thx fans!

Krissy

* * *

Chapter 17

Ziva sighed as she stared at Tony and realized he was not going to back down until he knew what was holding her back. "I'm afraid." She said simply and winced. It was really hard for her to admit that she was afraid of something.

"Ziva is actually admitting that she is scared of something?" Tony asked, trying to put her at ease.

"Tony." She said with a sigh.

"Why don't you tell me what you're afraid of?" Tony asked her as he walked back with her towards the bed and sat her down and then sat down next to her.

"What happens if we get married and we have a family and he gets to you? I keep picturing us being a happy family and then it all gets taken away and you and the kids get killed because of me. I couldn't handle it if something happened to you or any kids we might have because of me." Ziva said in a soft whisper.

"Ziva, look at me." Tony said patiently as he waited for her to lift her eyes to meet his eyes. "Baby, we are a team and a family, no one is going to let anything happen to you, me or any kids we might have. You and I both know that if kids are involved Gibbs will go above and beyond to keep them and us safe. We are a family at NCIS."

"I know, that's what Abby said that as well." Ziva said biting her lower lip. "I want to marry you Tony, I love you." She said softly.

"Then marry me Ziva." Tony said, understanding that wasn't an answer to his question just a statement but she was still holding back. "Ziva David, will you marry me?"

Ziva was nervous, she was weighing her options and her wants and needs and what she felt was a good idea or not. Finally she had no other choice, knowing how she felt and what was going through her mind and his, she knew he wouldn't back off now that he knew she loved him and that the only thing holding her back was her fear for his safety and the safety of any kids they might have together. She knew he would push the issue and keep on asking her to marry him over and over again, and she realized it was what she wanted to do more than anything. "Yes." She finally answered him and the grin that broke out on his face made a warm fuzzy feeling enter her chest and she felt whole and truly happy and relieved as she said the answer, and that told her it was the right answer.

Tony tackled her back to the bed with a wicked grin on his face, showing her exactly what his intentions were at that moment. "I think it's high time we celebrate our engagement the right way." He said just before he kissed her hard on the lips.

That night everyone in the house was toasting the newly engaged couple and eating some really good food that was cooked in honor of the engagement. As everyone celebrated and drank wine, Ziva didn't drink any of it, mainly because she and Tony weren't sure if they had conceived a child together or not and she didn't want to take any chances until she knew for sure. As she watched them toasting their glasses and laughing and joking, she felt happy that she was a part of the team and the family. There was still a small part of her that was nervous and scared, she felt like she had just thrown Tony into a situation he shouldn't be a part of.

Ziva excused herself from the table and went to the bathroom in the hallway, and she locked the door and leaned against the door before going over and putting the lid of the toilet down and sitting on it. She felt her hands shaking and she felt tears running down her face and she realized what was going on, she was so terrified for Tony because she loved him so much that she was afraid of losing him and the thought of him in such danger was causing her to have an anxiety attack and the tears were falling down her face.

She wasn't sure how long she sat in there but as soon as she was sure that she could keep it together she got up and went to the sink and washed her face, patting her face and eyes and making sure no one could tell she had been crying. Ziva David didn't cry, it was not something she could do in front of anyone because they thought of her as the big bad tough Mossad agent, but she wasn't that person anymore. She was an NCIS agent, and soon she would be Tony's wife but she was also a target and now so were the people that were so important to her.

When she went to open the door she frowned, she hadn't noticed it but the window into the bathroom was open, and she didn't think anyone in the house opened it. She turned back towards the bathtub and the window. She reached behind her to unlock the door, just in case and she slowly walked over to the tub and pulled the curtains back, and came face to face with the one man she didn't think she would ever see. Before she could scream his fist hit her face and then she felt something cover her mouth and nose, and then she knew no more.

* * *

Tony frowned as he realized Ziva had been in the bathroom for way too long. He slowly got to his feet and knew in his gut something was wrong. He could feel it inside him that something bad had happened, and yet he wasn't all that sure what it could be. He walked to the bathroom and knocked on the door but there was no answer.

"Ziva, baby, open the door." Tony said into the bathroom through the door, but he got no response.

Tony turned the knob and was surprised when it opened and then his heart nearly stopped as he saw blood on the wall and the window that he had hated in that house, wide open. He thought it was weird that there was a regular window in the bathroom connected to the tub, but it was said that it was important in a safe house in case of emergency, but now it was clear that the window had been their downfall.

"Gibbs!" Tony shouted loudly and heard running footsteps. "He has her." He whispered when the team stopped near the door. "Maliek has Ziva."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Ziva woke up slowly but the pounding in her head caused her to attempt to cry out, but no sound left her lips. She opened her eyes finally and looked around her, she realized where she was immediately and winced even more. She knew she was in major trouble, and that was where she was. She looked around, the unfamiliar territory causing her to worry. If she could get a hold of something to call for help, she had no idea where to tell them to go. She looked down at herself and winced. She was sitting in a hard chair, her arms were chained down to the metal arms and her legs were each chained to the legs of the chair. She could see a band across her middle, holding her in place and as she attempted to turn her head, she realized that there was a strap around her throat holding her head still and in place.

"The little assassin is awake?" Maliek said in a sarcastic voice.

"Maliek, please, listen to me." Ziva said softly. Her only chance was to try and talk him down, to make him understand that she was upset over what had happened his family as much as he was. She was not a cold blooded killer, and she was someone who had paid for the guilt and anguish that she had felt over those deaths.

"There is nothing for you to say Ziva David. What, you get to be happy and make new friends and start over in the United States when those you murdered don't get to?" Maliek spat at her angrily.

"I thought you were going to kill all those close to me, make me watch them die?" Ziva asked, wondering why he had finally chosen to just grab her rather than go after her loved ones.

"I realized that if I killed them, it would make me like you." Maliek said sneeringly.

"You killed my sister." Ziva pointed out as pain ripped through her chest at the thought of her innocent sister.

"Well, that was different, it also hurt others besides you so it was beneficial to my cause." Maliek said smugly. "Your friends out here have nothing to do with the others I want to hurt so their deaths or brutal tortures would not be beneficial to my cause." Maliek stated simply, the logic he was using told Ziva that Tony and the others would be safe, Maliek would leave them alone once he killed her.

"Maliek, I swear to you that I did not…" Ziva stopped when she saw the rage building and braced herself for what she knew was coming. Sure enough Maliek slammed his fist into her face and Ziva tasted blood as she heard her nose breaking. She made sure not to wince, not to show any emotion or pain. She was going to have to become the old Ziva David, the cold and calculating Mossad officer. It might be the only way she could get herself out of this or stall long enough to give her team a chance to find her, because if they didn't find her, then she was going to be delivered to them, in a body bag.

* * *

Tony was beside himself as he paced back and forth. He was often running his fingers through his hair and glancing at the screens around him. With Ziva being kidnapped they had agreed they should head to NCIS headquarters and now Tony could see how just how much people had come to respect and care about Ziva, like he had. Vance had put all agents on alert, APB's were broadcasted everywhere and all federal agencies were on alert for any sightings. They were still trying to decide whether to go to the media, but quickly nixed the idea when they realized it could do more harm than good at this point. Mossad had been contacted and they wanted to take over the whole case, considering who was involved. But because everything was going on, on American soil their request was denied.

"Tony, we are going to get her back, you'll see." Abby said as she sat on McGee's desk.

"DiNozzo, stop pacing and feeling sorry for yourself and help us find the probie." Gibbs practically barked at Tony.

McGee winced, and they all realized what Gibbs was doing. He was trying to get their heads in the game and reminding them that Ziva was no longer Mossad but she was the new probie on their team. It was meant to get them to stop thinking of her as their friend and like an agent who was trained and capable to taking care of herself.

"I don't understand, she could take this guy without so much as breaking a sweat. How did he get her? How did he take her down without much of a fight if any?" Tony asked softly. He knew Ziva, they all knew Ziva and she was not a woman to be messed with. She could take any one of them down on hand to hand alone. She always carried some sort of weapon, a weapon hidden on her body and most of the time they could never ever find it. She drove the metal detectors at places nuts because they would always go off but no one found anything she was waved through with no problems.

"It means that Ziva probably was surprised or her guard was down and he managed to get to her." Abby said softly as she tried to think of her big bad Mossad assassin and how she could have let a creep like this take her.

"It means that Ziva might have made a choice." Gibbs spoke up.

* * *

Ziva felt like her face was on fire. After the first punch he had snapped, his rage becoming clear and he had just kept punching her over and over in the face. Now Ziva had her left eye swelling shut, pretty soon she would not be able to see out of that eye. She knew there were multiple fractures in her face, including her nose and jaw. She tasted blood, and she could feel blood dripping down her face and streaking from her head down the side of her face. She knew that he had hit her hard enough to break the skin on her face in different places, he was wearing the brass knuckles after all. Ziva was struggling to stay conscious as she watched him start to set his tools out, she knew what was coming and she was ready to die, she knew it was going to happen and Maliek was going to make it slow and painful.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Tony looked over at Abby who was trying to put together a bunch of places that Maliek may have taken Ziva. He knew that everyone was on edge, everyone wanted to get Ziva back, she was part of their family, they were a team and no one was allowed to take away a member of their team. They were sure that they only had a short amount of time, or they would be burying her the way they had buried Kate. Tony could tell that Abby was wondering how he was holding up, considering he and Ziva were engaged to be married.

Tony was lost in thought, attempting to come up with something to say when he felt the familiar thunk to the back of his head.

"Get your head out of the clouds DiNozzo, we have a missing agent." Gibbs stated simply.

"Yes sir." Tony said, understanding that Gibbs was attempting to keep him calm, by treating everyone as he normally treated them. He didn't want anyone to lose it, and they would lose it if anyone softened up and attempted to pretend that this was as different than their other cases, even though it was.

"Abby, tell me what we have." Gibbs stated as he set another Cow Pow in front of Abby.

"Thanks Gibbs." Abby said as she sighed. "There are abandoned warehouses within 30 miles of the safe house, there is also a bunch of storage houses at the docks that are miles from the safe house." Abby said as she winced. "I can't really tell you if she will be at either of those two locations, but those seem like our top choices at the moment, unless he took her there for the first night and then moved her. Do we know if he really plans to kill her or if he has other plans for her?"

"We don't know anything for sure right now, Abby." McGee spoke up, giving her a very soft look of understanding.

* * *

Ziva could tell there was something going on as Maliek laughed into the phone he was holding. Ziva was wondering why she was still alive. She had been beaten badly and she knew she was injured but she was still breathing and he knew it. She had a feeling that Maliek was up to something and it would be far worse than if he had actually killed her, which meant he was going to hand her over to someone else who wanted to kill her.

"Ms. David, you're awake." Maliek said sarcastically. "I bet you're wondering why you aren't dead yet?" He asked her with a smirk on his face. "Well I made some calls, trying to figure out what would be the best way to take you out and I learned there is someone who really wants to kill an NCIS agent, since you are no longer a Mossad officer but now an NCIS agent, well I couldn't resist making a deal. I mean I get money while you die a slow painful death anyway, that was the best news of all." Maliek said laughing evilly.

Ziva wasn't sure who would want to kill her but if it was someone that hated NCIS then they would make sure she was killed in a slow painful manner, but it would also mean they were on NCIS radar, which would mean there was a slight chance that an agent would be listening in on all the phone calls this creep made, and that could mean they knew there was a deal for an NCIS agent going down out here, they would call Vance and Vance, who was the Director now, would notify Gibbs, it had to go down like that, she had to trust that her team would find her somehow, she had to believe she would see them again, she had to believe that she would get to marry Tony, she had to.

"What's the matter? Are you hoping that somehow, someone is going to make sure that your precious team can find you? Ha! Not going to happen Ziva." Maliek said laughing, obviously not having any idea who he was messing with. Ziva realized immediately that he had no idea who Gibbs was and he didn't know that Tony would be ruthless, he wouldn't let anything happen to her without fighting for her. She knew her team was looking for her, she had to believe they would find a way to get to her.

* * *

Tony was going crazy looking over all the notes they had been sent by Mossad on Maliek. There didn't seem to be anything in there that was useful, except that he was a greedy person and that he would trade his own mother for money if he could. Tony wasn't sure why that was an important detail but for some reason that was the detail that stood out in his mind and it was the one repeating through his head over and over, he had a feeling it was real important for some reason.

There had to be something that he was missing, something that could lead him to Maliek and that would lead him to Ziva, there had to be. Tony looked up as Gibbs walked into the area where their desks were, he had been in Vance's office for a long time, Tony knew it was probably a phone call to Ziva's father that had taken that long. Vance had been handling Mossad, but Gibbs was Ziva's immediate supervisor and he had been the one in charge of her protection detail, her being taken right from under his nose was a real bad thing.

"Gibbs?" Tony asked getting up slowly and walking over to his bosses desk.

Gibbs looked up at him, leaning back in his chair and it was clear that there was something on his mind. "Yes DiNozzo?"

"Is Mossad taking over?" He asked softly.

"No, they are threatening to run their own investigation and if they find her first, they plan to take her back to Israel, but that's about it. Vance is holding them off for right now." Gibbs informed him. "Those warehouses and the storage lockers were all empty." Gibbs also spoke up. "There was no sign that anyone had been there."

* * *

He looked over as he waited for the contact meeting with Maliek. He was going to be 'buying' an NCIS agent, that was something that was going to be interesting. He wasn't even supposed to be in town, but he was there and he was going to take care of this, because he had been asked to personally by his boss and that meant a lot more than anything.


	20. Chapter 20

Authors Note: All right folks thank you all so much for reading and reviewing. I just wanted to let you know that for a while I might be having trouble with my writing, and if something doesn't make sense or you are confused about something, please Private Message me and I would be happy to explain it to you. The issue is I recently got devastating news that my Great Grandmother passed away on Oct 24th. She was my world, I was so close to her, all my life. So I am taking it hard. It will take me a long time to be able to think straight but I am trying to keep up with my writing and keep updating.

So please be gentle and nice with your reviews, at least for the next few chapters and if there is something confusing, please just Private Message me and we will go from there. Um as always thanks for sticking with me, remember the more reviews I get the more I want to update.

Also it's time for a poll, in your review let me know if you think she should be pregnant or not? If you say she should be, let me know if you are thinking boy or girl and give me a name for either gender please?

Kris

* * *

Chapter 20

Ziva looked up and frowned as the man walked in with Maliek , there was something about this man that was familiar and yet she couldn't figure it out, she couldn't think at the moment. Her head was pounding and she knew the pain was only getting worse. She looked at the television that Maliek had brought in and her eyes went wide, she had been here for a month! Ziva didn't know that, that couldn't be right! There was no way Maliek had managed to keep her here, not like this, not for a whole month! She looked at Maliek and her was smirking.

"Yes, you have been in and out of consciousness, haven't you realized it yet Ziva, I have been beating you and torturing you for a reason. You can barely function, you can't even stay conscious. Most of the time you are out cold, and when you are awake you aren't thinking clearly."Maliek said with a smirk on his face. "This is the man who has been working for the past month, just a few days after I took you he started to work to make a deal to buy you, you see, he plans to make sure you die a slow and painful death." Maliek was laughing loudly.

Ziva was still in shock, how could she had been here a month? She felt the pain throughout her body and she knew that she had been taking a lot of blows, her days had been running into each other, when she was awake, and when she was unconscious it didn't seem to matter, she never really knew how long she was unconscious each time she lost it. She looked at the man again and wondered who he was and what he wanted, why did he want to buy her and why did he want to kill her? She didn't know how many enemies she had out there, but she usually remembered most of their faces and this one she didn't recognize at all. There was something about his eyes, his eyes were familiar in a way, but not as an enemy. Maybe he was related to someone she used to date and he was angry at the end of their relationship and that was why he wanted to kill her? Ziva started to realize something else, if she had been here a month, she had never actually had her menstrual cycle, which could mean she was undernourished, dehydrated or her injuries just blocked her body from having it. Or it could mean that she was carrying baby DiNozzo, that thought scared her more than anything, because she had taken a lot of blows and she was hurt badly, who knew what damage would be done to an unborn kid inside of her from the things Maliek had been doing to her.

* * *

Tony was leaning back in his chair, staring at a picture that Abby had taken a long time ago. It was from way before Ziva and Tony had even thought about dating each other, it was just before heading out to Los Angeles. Ziva, Tony and Jenny were standing next to each other, and Ziva and Jenny were laughing about something. Tony hid this picture from Gibbs often, he knew how much Gibbs missed Jenny and so no one wanted to make it worse for him. He wasn't paying attention, and he was facing the other way so the smack to the back of his head surprised him. He jumped out of his chair and hid the picture behind his back as he turned and faced his boss and mentor.

"Boss?" Tony said softly. Tony was a mess, he knew it. The normally well groomed and well dressed agent was wearing jeans and a polo shirt, only because Vance had forced him to change out of the t-shirt and put on the polo shirt for some semblance of professionalism.

"DiNozzo, maybe you should take some personal time?" Gibbs said softly as he sat at his desk.

"No way, boss." Tony said shaking his head. "I wouldn't know what to do with myself and I would probably lose my mind. I started getting my apartment ready for her you know, the first week after she went missing I had all her things moved into my apartment. Then I realized that the apartment was going to be too small, I mean we are talking about kids so I looked for a house and I found one that was awesome, I knew Ziva would like it cause we passed it once on a case and she had said she wanted to live there one day. So I moved all our things into the house, got everything all set after buying it. So now I have that big empty house, and for the last month it's just been me. I have her piano in there you know? She doesn't know how to play really, but she wants learn so I made sure I put it by the window in a place where she would have plenty of light and space if she wanted a teacher to come and give her lessons at the house or something." Tony said, blabbing on and on.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs snapped as he started to get up, thinking about smacking him again.

"Yes boss?" Tony said simply.

"Shut up please." Gibbs said with a sigh. "It's been a month and Vance pulled us from the case for a reason." Gibbs said, although he wasn't happy about being ordered to work other cases and leave Ziva's case alone. Gibbs was sure that Mossad had taken over since NCIS had, had a month and gotten nowhere.

"Yes boss." Tony said nodding his head slowly.

"Tony, we all miss her. I know you miss her more than us, you love her and all but moping isn't going to help. I think that decorating that house for her, maybe getting ideas together for your wedding, that might be helpful. That way when she comes back to us, because she will come back to us, she will have something to work on and something to look at." Gibbs said softly, sighing as he realized his team was suffering.

McGee, Tony and Gibbs had been using a temp to work on their cases now. Aimee was brought in, and she was using the spare desk on the other side of McGee. Her first day she had attempted to sit at Ziva's desk and it was Abby who had snapped at the poor girl. She immediately moved to the desk and she had been sitting there ever since. Gibbs knew that no one really wanted to work on anything but finding their missing team mate, but they had dead marines, and navy sailors that deserved justice every once in a while. Gibbs had just been downstairs with Abby and Ducky and the two of them had been working on another list of possible places where Ziva could be, but everyone was sure that Maliek had taken Ziva back to Israel by now, which was why Mossad had most likely taken over, although if there was any place that they confirmed Ziva was in any country, Gibbs would hop the next flight. Ziva was part of the family, and she was marrying Tony, the happiness that it was clear Tony felt with Ziva was something he deserved, and Gibbs felt like shooting the man who had put the frown and sad look on Tony's face. Even when he attempted to smile, it was never in his eyes and the smile never reached his eyes.

* * *

Something wasn't right, Ziva knew that now. She knew something was wrong. Her injuries were bad, she knew they were bad. She most likely needed to see a doctor but they weren't fatal without medical treatment, just extremely painful. She looked over as Maliek and the new man talked and laughed about something. Then Ziva heard the man asked Maliek a question and her eyes went wide. Maliek was out for revenge but someone had hired him to come after Ziva. He was supposed to deliver her to someone else, but the man had offered a better price. Ziva knew that even if she managed to escape these two, she wouldn't be safe and neither would her friends, someone else wanted her dead, they just weren't here yet. She might had a small amount of time where she was safe, but it wouldn't be long before this man decided to take care of her, himself.

Suddenly Maliek was standing there, the deal had been done and he slammed his fist into her face. She was out cold as she heard shouts and loud bangs and she didn't care, she only saw blackness around her and she felt cold fear in her heart.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Ziva slowly opened her eyes and looked around her. She knew she was in the back of a car and someone was lightly pushing her hair out of her face as they pressed on one of her fresher wounds that had been bleeding badly. She focused and realized the young woman was wearing a badge around her neck, an NCIS badge.

"Who are you?" Ziva managed to get out, although her voice was pretty hoarse from the lack of water lately. She was given only enough to keep her alive, but not enough to quench her thirst or to make sure her throat was not dry.

"Special Agent Kensi Blye. I work out of Los Angeles, NCIS. You are here in Los Angeles and once we got word that someone might be holding a kidnapped NCIS agent, we immediately went to work. You see our unit is a deep cover unit, most people don't know we exist or anything. G, he went in there and brokered a deal with that creep and when it went down and we could see you, we took him down. He decided to put up a fight but we still managed to subdue him. G is the one in the front seat, his name is G Callen, and the one driving is Sam Hanna." Kensi said with a smile. "We are going to take you to a hospital and your team will be notified soon enough, Hetty is already calling Vance."

* * *

"Director Vance." Leon Vance answered his phone with a sigh.

"Leon, it's Hetty. We have Ms. David and my agents are getting her to a hospital, you know which one, they said she is pretty badly injured and she has been bleeding out and is dehydrated and malnourished. I figured you would want to know right away, since you handed us this case a few weeks ago." Hetty informed the director immediately.

"Thank you and I will send out her team, which will include her fiancé." Vance said with a sigh of relief into the phone.

Gibbs looked up as Leon Vance came down the stairs, entering the work area that currently held Gibbs, Tony and McGee with Ducky and Abby standing around talking with them after they had been ordered to come up there. Aimee had stated she couldn't work with a team that clearly didn't want her around and resented her because they missed their real team mate, so she had actually quit a few days ago, which Gibbs was actually all right with, he didn't need someone around that made the others feel like they weren't going to get their Ziva back.

"Good everyone is here." Leon said as he walked over and motioned for everyone to gather around where he was standing.

"Look, Director Vance, I don't understand why you needed me up here. I have a back log of cases down in the morgue." Ducky said as he looked confused.

"I wanted to let you know the status of Ziva's case." Leon stated and soon everyone was giving him their full attention, especially Tony.

"Did Mossad find out where Maliek was keeping her?' Abby asked excited and hopeful.

"Mossad was never on this case, NCIS has had the case the entire time." Leon said shaking his head. "I had gotten word that Maliek was taking her to Los Angeles, because he was supposed to meet the person who knew Maliek hated Ziva and hired him to kidnap her and break her down, so he could take her and get the information he needed before killing her, himself. Luckily, OPS, the undercover unit we have in Los Angeles was able to get Agent Callen in place to offer Maliek a much better offer. The takedown went down about an hour or so ago, Maliek is in custody and the agents down there are taking Ziva to the closest hospital that treats military personnel out there. I have a military transport waiting to take all of you to Los Angeles, whenever you can get to the plane." Leon stated as he looked at the three male agents and the two forensics specialists.

"Even me and Ducky get to go?" Abby asked excited and happy.

"Yes Abby, even you and Ducky get to go." Leon said with a smile as he handed Gibbs the information he would need ad then Leon turned and headed back up the stairs to his office, with a pleased look on his face because he could see that DiNozzo was finally relaxed enough, knowing his fiancée was alive and well.

* * *

Ziva opened her eyes slowly, knowing she was in the hospital but wincing at the strong grip that was holding onto the only hand that was free. The other hand was in a cast, having been broken several times and the IV was in her forearm, making it easy for her to use her hand and bend her elbow without worrying about dislodging the IV or having any pain in her hand. She looked over and saw Tony was the one gripping her hand tightly and she could see his head was lying on the bed next to her. She looked around and saw the room was full of the people she loved, Gibbs, McGee, Ducky and Abby were also there. Gibbs, Ducky and Abby were sleeping next to each other on a couch that was in the corner and McGee was sleeping in the other chair in the room. It meant a lot to her that they would sleep in such uncomfortable positions just to be there for her. She turned her gaze back to Tony and saw him awake and staring at her.

"Hey beautiful." Tony said with a small smile. "I missed you."

"I missed you to." Ziva said and winced at the hoarseness of her voice. "Can I have some water?" Ziva asked with a soft sigh.

"Sure can." Abby said jumping up.

Ziva looked around and saw that everyone had come awake as they heard Tony and Ziva start talking. She smiled as they all walked over to surround her bed. They each took turns giving her a hug and Abby sat gently on the other side of the bed from where Tony was sitting and helped her sip some cold water through a straw. Ziva wanted to moan at how good the water felt on her very dry and sore throat.

"How long have you been here?" She managed to ask when she had emptied her glass.

"We got here the day you were found, and you have been unconscious since you were brought in. That was a week ago." Gibbs spoke up.

"Please tell me you haven't all been sleeping in this room, in those uncomfortable positions for a whole week." Ziva said, her eyes going wide.

"We weren't taking any chances. We still don't know who hired Maliek in the first place, and even though there is a guard at your door, we weren't taking any chances." Tony said stubbornly. "The doc said you aren't pregnant, so I guess that's a good thing right now, considering. However, you are still marrying me Ziva, that isn't something I am letting you get out of." Tony said, afraid that now she knew there wasn't a child in the picture she would want to call off their engagement.

"I had no intention of doing that. I haven't paid the rent on my apartment." Ziva said with a wince.

"I moved you out of there, and I bought that house that you always said you wanted to live in, I moved all our stuff in there and now it's just waiting for you to tell me how you want it decorated. Plus, Abby picked up a bunch of wedding books and magazines, we brought some of them with us, so you could relax and start getting ideas together for our wedding." Tony said as he brushed some hair out of her face. "Ziva I love you so much and I promise, I am not going to let anything happen to you."

Ziva knew that everyone in that room thought that they could keep her safe, but Ziva knew that there was nothing they could do to stop an enemy who was still unseen and unnamed from coming for her, and deep down inside, Ziva was scared to death that she would lose the only family she had ever felt really close to, now that she had found a home for herself.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

After another week in the hospital, Ziva was allowed to return home and so they had been loaded onto another military transport. Once they had made it back to their home state, she had been shocked to see that Tony wasn't kidding around when he said he had bought that house that she had been eyeing for a very long time. When she was helped inside by Abby and Tony she was amazed to see that Tony had mixed their furniture in together, even though they totally didn't match. She was still wondering where he had put their different beds. A glance into the guest room showed her bed was in there and a glance into another guest room showed his old bed in there, which only confused her. When she made it into their bedroom she was shocked to see one of those sleep number beds in there and the frame was the one that she had been showing pictures to everyone of for about 7 months straight, saving money to buy it because she loved that bed frame so much.

"You went out a bought it? How could you afford this after paying a down payment on a house?" Ziva asked, knowing that none of her money had gone towards anything just yet.

"Everyone chipped in on a lot of the things you see that are new, and since this place had been on the market for a while the home owner was more than willing to sell it for a lower price, he was an ex police officer and when he heard two federal agents were going to be moving in and planning their wedding, he was thrilled to sell it to us." Tony confessed with a smile on his face.

"Only you would find a way to get something for a much cheaper price than it was originally supposed to be." Ziva said with a small smile and a slight shake of her head, which then caused her to wince because the flight had brought on a headache, she was still very weak and fragile. Once they had landed she had been forced to go through an entire medical exam, which included CT scans of the head and body to make sure the flight hadn't brought on any damage before they had allowed her to go home. Now she just wanted to curl up into bed and sleep, she was so tired and sick.

"Why don't you go ahead and change into your sweats and your favorite t-shirt that you like to wear around the house and then you can climb into bed and just get some sleep?" Tony suggested softly, he could see how tired and out of it she looked and he really felt like it was his job to make sure she got the rest she needed to get better, he was her fiancé, he was the only person who was responsible for taking care of her right now.

"Okay." Ziva said as she looked at the two dressers that were in the room and she tried to figure out which one held her clothing.

"Abby helped me unpack, she can show you where your things are." Tony said, seeing her indecision and knowing she wasn't sure where her things were or what she was really feeling like putting on.

"Okay." Ziva said as she smiled at Tony, knowing he wanted to help her more but not sure how he could do it.

After Abby had helped her go through her things and learn where things were in the room, she had changed into her favorite sweat and t-shirt that meant a lot to her, Tony had actually given it to her once when she had been forced to crash at his house after a really rough case once. She had worn the shirt home and never gave it back, she didn't think he remembered that the shirt was actually his, at one point it had even smelled like him, something she really loved. But now it was hers and she had no intention of ever letting him take it back away from her. She climbed into bed and smiled when Tony brought in a glass of water and put it on the nightstand on her side of the bed. Then he showed her how to work the remote on the sleep number bed and explained how it worked and what the numbers were and meant before he kissed her lightly and left her to get some rest, the trip home had really drained her.

* * *

Gibbs was angry as he looked over everything that was in front of him, but he still had no idea who was behind all of this. The LA group had given him copies of everything they had, since they had to really continue the investigation with the thought that the main guy was there, and they would probably be the one to make the arrest when he was found and identified.

"There has to be something that will tell us who this freak is and why he wants Ziva." Gibbs said as he leaned back in his chair.

"Well, boss, maybe we should ask Mossad for any files they have or anything they have on anything Ziva worked for them?" McGee suggested from where he was sitting at his own desk.

"You could try that, but I doubt you would get anything out of Mossad." Gibbs said shaking his head, knowing there was no way Mossad would hand over anything on any cases or operations that they ran that had anything to do with Ziva. "But you might get a list of names, ask them for a list of names of people that are still alive and have anything to do with any threats or anything towards Ziva."

"That might work boss." McGee said nodding his head.

"We need a name, at least a name might get us somewhere." Gibbs said staring at Ziva's desk. "We aren't going to let anyone take her again McGee, we can't take the chance. We got lucky this time, we won't get lucky the next time someone gets her, there is no way we would have a shot in getting her back."

* * *

Ziva woke up in a cold sweat, staring around the empty room she was sleeping in. She pushed the covers off of her and stared at the pictures that Tony had hung up or placed around the room, in an attempt to make the place look homey, and she tried to calm down but all she kept thinking was whoever was behind this was going to find some way to get to her, whether he kidnapped her or someone close to her, and if they lost someone else, she would never ever be able to look in the mirror or forgive herself. She needed to figure out who this was and find a way to contact him, there had to be a way to contact whoever this was, and try and make a deal because if she didn't she worried that someone close to her could be the next victim.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Ziva was still weak the next day, she could tell that Tony was worried about how fragile she was, but there was nothing she could do about that, she knew she was weak and she knew the only way to get stronger was to give her body everything it needed to get back the nutrients and things that it had lost when she had been held captive. She knew her body was battered and she wondered, if Tony was looking at her like a weak little girl who could no longer take care of herself or protect herself. She hated that her family, and there was no mistaking that Gibbs, Tony, Abby, Ducky and McGee were her family, had seen her in that weak and vulnerable state. She knew what they had seen, they had seen a broken woman who had not been able to protect herself from a madman who was intent on making her life miserable. She had no idea who had actually gotten one of her worst enemy's to kidnap her and keep her alive like that. She was grateful that the LA NCIS team had managed to find a way to offer him a better deal for her, so they could get closer and in a position to get her out of there and take that, jerk into custody. She knew why he had done what he had done, but he had taken a lot from her in revenge, like her sister.

Ziva looked up when she felt someone staring at her and saw that Tony was leaning against the doorjamb and was watching her wearily, worry in his eyes showing that he was scared that she wouldn't be all right. She was so grateful that he cared so much about her but she was also worried that he would never ever be able to trust her to watch his back on future cases, it was also possible that he wouldn't be able to work with her or trust her to take care of herself in the field when she was finally able to go back to work and they had caught the guy behind all of this.

"Are you ever going to be able to trust me again?" Ziva finally asked softly.

"I have always trusted you, Ziva." Tony said confused as he walked fully into the room and sat down on the bed.

"I don't mean like that. Are you going to be able to trust me to have your back when we are in danger or working cases? Are you ever going to be able to go undercover with me and know that I can take care of myself like you used to?" Ziva asked softly. She knew she didn't sound like her old self, but how could she sound like the old Ziva when she didn't think anyone would ever view her in the same light again?

"Ziva, there is nothing anyone could say or do that would ever make me doubt that you could take care of yourself. You're my ninja partner." Tony said with a mock serious face that actually made Ziva laugh out loud. "I bet you could have been in those Jet Lee or Jackie Chan movies." Tony said seriously.

Ziva was shaking her head, trying not to laugh anymore because it did cause some pain still. When Tony finally smiled a soft smile meant to put her at ease she realized that he knew there would always be a time when someone got their hands on one of them, and each of them would go through a bad experience, it was how they handled themselves afterwards and how they acted that made all the difference. If Ziva acted like a scared little girl and didn't try to fight back, then that was how they would treat her. If she acted like someone who was tough and didn't have any problems with what happened to her, then they wouldn't believe her. She had to be honest, she had to admit that she was still scared but not so scared that she wanted to just lie down and take it. She had to fight back, she had to make it clear she wanted to help them take out this guy and make sure that he never hurt another soul, otherwise she would never have a normal and happy life with Tony, she wouldn't be able to have babies with him, now knowing there was someone out there who really wanted to kill her, more than a normal cop hater.

* * *

His anger was flashing through his eyes as he threw the knife at her picture on the wall. He couldn't believe that man had double crossed him, and stupidly tried selling Ziva David off to federal agents. It served him right what had happened to him. It angered him worse that she was right there, almost his, and now she was gone again. She had been so close and he had almost had his hands on her, but now he would have to start all over again. He had seen the way she was nearly broken, he had seen the way she had known death was coming in her eyes. He had always admired how much Ziva could tell when things were bad, and how she could stay calm and not break out in tears like most women he knew. He had always known that Ziva David would be the one woman he wanted more than anything and when he couldn't have her, he was going to make sure no one else could either. Maybe it was time to try a different tactic? He could try and get to her through her relationships, maybe if he broke apart her engagement to Anthony DiNozzo or made sure she thought her friends hated her, maybe, just maybe, he could make her leave them and go off somewhere alone so he could have his chance to get to her.

He was not letting another chance at getting Ziva David to be his pass by him. He had lost her once when she had told him she could never ever had those types of feelings for him, he had even seen the horror on her face when she had watched him break the neck of his own fiancée when he had decided he no longer loved her but loved Ziva instead, and now it was time for her to learn that no one ever told him no and lived to tell about it.

"Soon my Ziva, soon." He said as he smiled that evil smug smile he loved to show off so much.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Ziva was sitting in the conference room at NCIS headquarters. Vance had ordered that Ziva be brought back in, that she spend her time in the NCIS offices, where they all knew she would be protected and then when she and Tony went home there were agents all around them. Ziva sighed, she knew that Tony couldn't like having all these other agents all around them, he couldn't like the fact that Vance was implying they couldn't take care of themselves. Ziva looked up as the door opened and smiled when Abby walked in. When Abby set down some bridal magazines and a notebook in front of her, as well as a binder and some scissors, Ziva had to laugh a little. It was clear that Abby wasn't backing down on making sure that Ziva planned her wedding to Tony.

"Abby, you know there is no way we can get married right now, not with some mad man on the loose." Ziva said softly, hoping to make sure she didn't hurt Abby's feelings.

"Ziva, Ziva, Ziva, silly Ziva." Abby said smirking. "You don't think that Gibbs is really going to let you postpone your wedding because of some other guy out there trying to hurt you, do you?"

Ziva winced, she knew Abby was right. Gibbs didn't believe in bending or changing your plans just because of some psycho that wanted to kill you. He would just increase security and make sure that things were as secure and protected as he could make them. "True." Ziva said softly. "But Tony hasn't mentioned anything about planning this wedding, Abby." Ziva said as her eyes met her friends. For so long she had thought she would never have any family, after all that her brother had done to the people at NCIS, taking away their friend, Kate, she didn't think they would ever accept her, but they had.

"Ziva, maybe you should bring it up. Maybe he thinks you aren't ready for a wedding now after what you went through, let him know you are." Abby said as she realized her friend was scared that Tony had changed his mind. It was clear that Ziva wasn't pregnant and she had thought for so long that the reason that Tony had wanted to marry her, was because they weren't sure if she was pregnant or not.

"No, that will only make Tony feel like a bear trapped in the woods." Ziva said and when she saw the wince on Abby's face she knew she had gotten that one wrong. "That's not the correct saying?"

"No, it's like a bear trapped in a cage. Bear's live in the woods Ziva, they wouldn't be trapped in them." Abby said with a smile on her face. Abby loved hearing how Ziva messed up some of the sayings and missed words or things, it was fun to Abby to be able to help someone learn something new, and it was actually funny sometimes, some of the things she said could really make you laugh.

"I sometimes think that Tony may be annoyed at some of the things I say. It's not easy, you know, with him being such a movie buff and loving to quote his movies and me not even knowing how to say real sayings. We are so different, I don't understand why he would want to marry me sometimes." Ziva said softly, letting out her real feelings.

"Because I love you." Tony said from the doorway.

"I think I am going to let you two talk. You let me know when you leave, so I can come help her plan that wedding, and before you leave, you two have better have set a date Tony." Abby said with a very firm look on her face, the look that she got when she meant business.

"Abby, you can't force someone…" Ziva stopped when Abby sent her the firm look that said be quiet and then gave a smirk of a smile to Tony before leaving the room.

"Why would she need to force me? I am the one who proposed, Ziva, that would mean that I really do want to get married." Tony said as he walked over and sat next to her at the table and looked at the stuff in front of her. "Abby can be a bit impatient, I will have to tell her that you aren't ready for a wedding."

"What makes you say that?" Ziva asked leaning back in her chair, frowning at him.

"Because you haven't brought up the wedding, or setting a date." Tony said leaning back in his own chair, frowning back at her in a mock frown.

"Neither have you." Ziva said waving her hand at him. "I know nothing about this sort of thing, you know that. I wasn't raised to know about weddings or anything girly, I have no idea what the steps are to plan one of these things."

Tony laughed out loud and then when he realized she was serious and she was really confused he stopped laughing. "Baby, you just set a date and then you plan for the things you want there, after you set a budget so you don't overspend or plan for things you can afford."

"That's not a problem. Father said that whatever I wanted I could have, he would just send me the money even if he can't come himself because it would be too dangerous." Ziva said shrugging.

"You didn't tell me that." Tony said arching an eyebrow.

"You never talk to me about the wedding, so I didn't see a reason to bring it up." Ziva said softly.

"Well let's set a date, let's get this thing going so you can become my wife." Tony said with a smile as he picked up her hand and gently kissed her palm.

* * *

He was not happy, he threw a knife at the photo of Anthony DiNozzo. He had finally managed to find a way to plant bugs around the NCIS offices, and the bug inside the conference room picked up the wedding conversation, so he thought he was going to marry and steal away Ziva David from him, did he? He thought he was going to be the father of her children. He thought he was going to spend the rest of his life with Ziva, well he could, but he was going to have a very short life! No one stole his Ziva, no one! He was going to have to make sure that he not only separated Ziva and this DiNozzo creep, but he needed to keep her away from everyone at NCIS, it just seemed like they were on this DiNozzo guys side, and that could be a problem once he started his plan to make sure that she didn't want him, ever again.

"Soon my Ziva, soon you are going to be with me and you won't want that American, you won't want him at all my love." He said as he walked over and kissed the photo of Ziva he had framed on his wall. He had already made one move, he had been inside their home while they were at work, and he had left them a present. He was going to make sure there was no wedding, if it was the last thing he did, he would make sure Ziva wanted nothing to do with this DiNozzo and the NCIS family she had made for herself. "Soon my love." He murmured again, an evil grin on his face.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Ziva was sitting at the conference room table looking through magazines with Abby again, for what seemed like the millionth day in a row. Ziva also knew that everyone was wondering why her father would want to send her any money for a wedding, especially since he didn't approve of the wedding, the marriage or the fact that Ziva was staying in the United States and would probably become a full fledged member of NCIS and not have to answer to his orders any longer. Ziva always figured it was because he thought that if he went along with things and tried to make her happy, that when he really needed a favor he could call on her to come through with it. Ziva and Tony had talked long and hard about it, and they were going to do everything in their power not to call her father for any money at all. Ziva didn't want to owe that man anything, not after everything he had tried to do to her and everything he had done to her.

"Hey, Ziva, did I tell you that a special collections box went around because everyone wants to chip in for the wedding. Don't worry, they all said they are still going to get you guys a gift, but they knew what you had been through and that if you couldn't afford certain things that you would have to go to your father, and they wanted to try and make sure that didn't happen as best as they could or that if it did happen, then you didn't need that much from him so it would be really easy to pay back or whatever." Abby speed talked her way through that whole thing.

Ziva blinked, acting like she couldn't understand a word coming out of Abby's mouth. "I don't speak Abby calf Pow." Ziva said, wondering if she had pronounced Abby's favorite drink correctly or not. She was still learning things and she knew that she had to have gotten at least the last word correct.

"Ziva, I think the only thing you really needed out of that was that we took up an office collection to add money to your wedding fund." Abby said a bit slower. Since Ziva was working on getting her English perfect, she wasn't good at picking up fast, really fast, speech like most other people.

"You all didn't have to do that." Ziva said, she was touched that anyone would do such a thing for her, but she figured they probably did it for Tony, he was like major family to just about everyone there. "Let me guess, the guys were happy Tony wasn't going to be able to flirt with a bunch of women anymore and most of the ladies that couldn't stand him, were glad he wasn't going to be able to hit on them anymore?" Ziva asked with a slight smile forming on her face.

"Must be it." Abby said as she took the hint that Tony was nearby.

"Hey, that's not funny." Tony said walking into the room. "I just stopped by to give this to you before you head out. I hate not being there, but this is one thing I can't be around for when it comes to the wedding. I am not allowed to see the dress until I watch you walk down the aisle." Tony said as he handed her a bunch of cash.

"I don't completely understand customs like this when it comes to weddings." Ziva said frowning a bit.

"It's not just a custom or tradition, it's a superstition. It's said that if a bride and groom see each other on the day of the wedding before she walks down the aisle then they will have bad luck, he isn't supposed to see her on the wedding day until she walks down the aisle towards him. Also, the groom can't see the wedding dress itself or know anything about the dress except that it's beautiful and is supposed to be white, until he sees her walking down the aisle as well, for the same reason, it will be bad luck and the marriage itself will be doomed." Abby explained, she could tell that Ziva was really confused.

"Of course." Ziva said with a sigh, well it looks like we are going wedding dress shopping.

"Yes we are." Abby said as she jumped up excited. "It won't be just the two of us either, McGee's little sister is coming with us and so is Vance's wife who said she loved weddings and since she found out that you don't really know anyone female, she volunteered to come along. Also we need to decide what you want to do about Bridesmaids, you need to have more Bridesmaids, actually you just need some."

"What are…?" Ziva trailed off getting more confused.

"All right, they are females that you consider friends or family that stand up there wearing a special dress that is chosen to match your wedding theme or colors and help you put things together for the wedding and so on and so forth." Abby said and she winced.

"I don't know…" Ziva trailed off again. She was really starting to see that she had no one in her life that she could consider a good female friend outside of Abby. "You will be one, yes?"

"Of course, you need a maid of honor and brides maids." Abby said.

"Then you will be the Maid of Honor, right? That is the important one, right?" Ziva was really confused as they walked to the SUV with loads of NCIS agents around them. McGee's sister and Vance's wife weren't far behind but they would ride in another SUV with other agents, especially since it was Vance's wife.

"That's correct. Why don't we have McGee's sister and Vance's wife be Bridesmaids?" Abby suggested. "If we do that and ask them, then we can just look at those dresses as well."

"I like that idea, we can do that." Ziva said nodding her head happily.

"All right, than we made a couple of important decisions already." Abby said, hoping that would relieve some of the tension she could feel coursing through her friend. It was clear that Ziva was overwhelmed at the thought of planning this wedding, especially since it was also clear she knew absolutely nothing about them.

* * *

He was not happy to learn that the Director of Mossad, Eli David, was more than willing to send his daughter whatever she needed for her wedding. He clearly wanted the leverage to use to manipulate his daughter into doing whatever he needed or wanted her to do. As much as he had to admire Eli's tenacity when it came to his daughter, he was annoyed. Ziva was getting married to an American, she really thought she was going to have this happy and amazing life in the United States and she was going to be married to this NCIS Special Agent, but he wasn't going to let that happen, no way. He was going to make sure that she learned immediately that he was the one in charge and if he didn't want her married to that man, then she wouldn't be married to that man.

"I will get to you soon Ziva and you will learn your lesson." He laughed as he looked at all the different photo's on the wall, the photo's that showed everyone she had contact with, people she was close to and some she wasn't. If he started off slow, killing those she barely knew or those she only ran into when she did errands or something, then she wouldn't get the hint, but it would be weird for her to arrive somewhere she always went, only to find a crime scene and a body. As he started killing those closer to her, she would get the hint, especially when he let her know those earlier bodies were her fault as well. She would leave Agent DiNozzo to protect him and then he would be able to make his move.

However, Agent DiNozzo still needed to learn a lesson about touching other people's things. Ziva was off limits to everyone, and he didn't follow the rules. He had warned the agent a couple times every month since Ziva started working there, but apparently he either didn't really read his emails or letters, or he just didn't think he was serious, but now he would have to learn the hard way, and that way may involve a very slow and painful death for Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Ziva was lying in bed and waiting for Tony to come to bed, she had, had a rough week with all the wedding planning and dress shopping. She had a maid of honor in Abby, and Vance's wife and McGee's little sister had both jumped at the chance to be a part of the wedding and be bridesmaids. They also loved getting to help plan the whole wedding and have input, and to be honest Ziva was thrilled that she had all the help she did.

"Hey." Tony said as it was apparent she was somewhere else in her mind and hadn't noticed when he had climbed into the bed.

"Hey." Ziva said as she turned towards him. She realized he had his arms open and out, waiting for her to climb into his arms like they had been doing lately.

As soon as she was enclosed in his arms, her head resting on his chest, he kissed the top of her head and started to lightly play with her hair, hoping she would relax or at least tell him what was on her mind, and he didn't have to wait too long.

"I am worried we will not be able to find the other person." Ziva said softly.

"You aren't supposed to be worrying over anything right now. Gibbs, McGee and I are looking for any other threats to you babe, just plan our wedding and just relax, let us handle things. You need to recover from your injuries and you need to just relax and plan our wedding so that you can become Mrs. DiNozzo." Tony said with a grin and he felt her giggle against his chest just before she slapped his stomach.

"Tony, I am still working for NCIS, I should be involved in the case and looking for the person who wants to kill me. This guy could be coming after you next, I don't want to be the reason behind you getting hurt or killed Tony, it would kill me if you were taken away from me." Ziva said softly. She didn't want to cry, that wasn't who she was, but she couldn't stand the thought that the first man she had really truly allowed herself to love, could be hurt or killed because of her.

"That won't happen, we won't let it." Tony whispered as he kissed the top of her head again and turned off his light. "Let's get some sleep."

* * *

The next morning Gibbs was sitting across from Tony and McGee and it was clear to him that there was something that Tony really needed to say and he was worried about saying it. Gibbs had known for a while that there was something that had been hidden from him, and he was just hoping that whatever it was that was being hidden wasn't something that could lead to a problem with their case.

"When Ziva started working here, long before there were any feelings or she was considered a true member of the team, I started getting letters and emails that were weird to me. I ignored them because I figured someone was trying to play a joke or just trying to be annoying, but as time went on I was getting more and more letters and pictures and video's accompanied them and lately they have been worse." Tony admitted as he dropped a couple of boxes on the table and then put a couple of Zip drives down that had copies of all of the emails on them.

"How bad are these letters?" Gibbs asked as he tried to decide whether to be angry or just ignore it for the moment while they worked on this case.

"They make it clear that as long as I don't talk Ziva into going back to Mossad and going home, and as long as I try and be her friend or anything more, I will be on their hit list. Then the latest letter, I received it last night, made it clear that now that I had claimed Ziva was planning on marrying her I was heading on being killed no matter what I did at this point." Tony said and when he heard McGee clear his throat he turned and saw Ziva and Abby standing there and the look made it clear that she had heard plenty.

"Ziva…" McGee started but quickly shut up when Abby gave him a look. Now that things were working out better between him and Abby, he didn't want to rock the boat, at all.

"Ziva…" Tony started but the look that he got from her made it clear she wasn't listening to him at all.

"Ziva and I are going to go and talk." Gibbs said as he got up and walked over to Ziva, motioning for Abby to take a seat with McGee and Tony before he left the room, heading for the elevator. Once they were inside, he waited till they were at a certain spot and then he hit the button so the elevator stopped and they were both leaning against the walls of the elevator, not really meeting each others eyes.

"How could he hide this from me?" Ziva asked, confusion clear in her voice.

"Because he loves you and he hates seeing you beat yourself up about all of the things going on. He is aware of the things that could happen and the people that can come after him, was aware before he even tried to be your friend, and he still fell in love with you and he still wants to marry you. Ziva, out of every female he has ever dated, including Jeanne, you are the only one that I think he actually, truly loves and can't live without. I think he thought he had true feelings for her, but for you he would give up his own life if it meant making you happy and keeping you safe." Gibbs said softly.

Ziva nodded her head, agreeing and hating it a lot. "I would do the same." Ziva admitted. "When he killed…" Ziva couldn't say his name. "When he killed him, you know who, I was so angry and couldn't understand why, but it wasn't because he killed him, it was because I was scared that it would make him a target and I couldn't protect him anymore from my father or other agents." Ziva finally admitted the truth, a truth she hadn't even admitted to Tony.

"I think you both need to talk about some things, but you need to both understand that you are about to get married and that means you need to communicate with each other. You both love each other a lot, we can all see it Ziva, don't let anything get in the way of how you two feel for each other." Gibbs said and then he gave her a hug before releasing the emergency stop button so they could return to the others.

* * *

He was beyond angry at this point as he realized that everything he was doing, was not making one bit of difference to anyone. His kills didn't even make the news and there was no reaction from Ziva, almost like she either didn't care or she didn't know. His plan seemed to be going off the deep end and he didn't know if there was a way to fix this, unless he sped everything up and went after people she did know. He was also thinking about sending Ziva video's or pictures of the kills, or better yet, he could grab random people, torture and kill them, keeping himself concealed from the camera and sending it to her with notice that these people were all dying because of her, and it wouldn't be long till the people closest to her were on that list. He would add new pictures of her closest friends, including the Director of NCIS and his wife and kids. He knew that was going to get a reaction, but it would be the message about Tony that would make the big difference to Ziva, because she would learn all the ways her fiancé was going to suffer for her sins.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Ziva knew that Tony was upset that she was still ignoring him, but it was something that she felt she had to do, mainly because even with them being engaged he still withheld information from her, he never once told her about any of the things he had been getting, any of the threats or anything else. She thought that they were being honest with each other and that they relied on each other and instead she found out that he was hiding something extremely important from her. Something that would have made a huge difference in what her decision would have been when it came to their engagement, which was why he kept it a secret she figured.

"Ziva, you can't stay mad at me forever." Tony said softly as he looked at her across their dining room table, where they were currently sitting there eating some takeout for dinner.

Ziva just glanced up at him and sighed before lowering her eyes back to the food on her plate. She hadn't really spoken a word to him since finding out what he was hiding from her, and she knew it was driving him insane because it had been two whole days of the silent treatment, and she could already tell it was also causing him to panic about the wedding, because he was afraid she would just cancel the entire thing, for good. She wasn't going to lie, she had thought about that, but she knew that she couldn't see herself with anyone else, she loved Tony and even though it might take her a while to forgive him, she didn't want to cancel the wedding.

"Look, I get it, it was stupid to hide something like that from you, but I knew you were under a lot of stress as it was, I didn't want to add to it." Tony said softly.

Ziva was about to answer him, for the first time, when there was a knock on the door. She watched as Tony got up to answer it, probably figuring it was shift change on the agents that were on their protection detail and the new ones were checking in. Ziva figured the same thing, so she was really shocked to see their friends and co-workers walking into the room. Ziva saw Ducky, Palmer, McGee, Abby and Gibbs standing there and it was clear that they had something they wanted to talk about.

"Ziva, you and I are going to go and talk in the back bedroom and let the guys here talk out here." Abby said as she walked over and grabbed Ziva's hand, pulling until she got to her feet and then Abby practically dragged her into the bedroom.

* * *

Gibbs could tell that Tony was still having a rough time getting through to Ziva, but Gibbs also knew that if Ziva wasn't going to forgive him, she would have left by now, so it was clear she just wanted to be angry for a while, nothing to really worry about. As the guys all sat around the living room, Gibbs knew that Tony was confused, and he couldn't blame him, but something had come up on someone else's case, something that Ducky had found during an autopsy and so they had all decided to come and talk to Ziva and Tony about it, separately.

"What's going on?" Tony asked as he looked at all of them in the room.

"Another NCIS Agent had a weird case that popped up, Ducky was doing the autopsy when he found this in the stomach of the victim." Gibbs said as he tossed the evidence bag to Tony and watched as Tony studied the object and then watched his eyes widen as he realized what he was holding.

"Do we know how he got this? Do we have any connections between him and any of our suspects or any of us?" Tony asked as he set down the object. "Are we possibly talking about a dirty Agent who had been on our detail?

"So you do recognize the object?" Ducky asked as he sighed in disappointment. They had all been hoping that it was a mistake that they were making, that there was no chance that this object had any connections with Ziva or Tony.

"I do." Tony said nodding his head slowly.

* * *

He was laughing as he looked over all the names of the people he was close to. He had a lot of people in place that were more than willing to help him with his new plan, and Ziva and Tony had no clue what they were about to face. He was good at getting people to do what he wanted them to do, even if it meant betraying someone important to them or someone that they owed their own lives to. He had broken several people recently, and that meant that he was most likely going to get to Ziva a lot faster than he originally thought. He wanted to kill someone else, someone that Ziva would feel so guilty about that she would beg him to kill her to rid her of the pain. At the same time he had another plan that was even more important to him, he had a plan to kidnap someone, or maybe more than one someone's, and use them to get Ziva to come to him. He knew who to go after, he knew how to get everyone to know that they had to let Ziva come to him, to save the lives of a very certain person, someone everyone would know couldn't handle pain or torture, and he was pretty sure he was going to be able to get his Ziva soon, and he would make her pay.

* * *

Ziva could tell that Abby was worried about telling her whatever it was that she wanted to tell her, but she stayed patient and waited. Over the years that she had gotten to know Abby she had learned how to deal with her friend and she had learned that patience was very essential in dealing with her. Abby wasn't like most people, and that meant you had to get to know her, to know that patience was the only way you were going to be able to tolerate Abby, and become friends with her. Ziva was glad that her patience was paying off though, mainly because it was wearing thin because of this case.

"Another Agent was working a case and Ducky found this during the autopsy." Abby tossed a photograph of a piece of evidence on the bed between the two of them.

Ziva picked it up and felt sick to her stomach. There was only one way that this object could have been found in a dead body, and there was only one reason that it would be found in there as well. "He is making a statement. He has gotten someone close to us to betray us and his message is clear, it won't be long before he uses someone else close to us to kill me."

"Do you know who?" Abby asked her.

Ziva had a feeling she knew what the plan was going to be, and as she looked from the photograph to her good friend, Ziva wasn't sure if telling Abby what Mossad trained their people to do in situations like this, because if Ziva was right, then it was going to be an innocent person who would be used to draw Ziva out into the open, and Ziva wasn't sure who it would be, but she had a sick feeling in her gut that she might know the candidates and how he planned to get his hands on them.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Ziva was pacing back and forth in the bedroom after Abby had left the room to go and leave with McGee. Ziva knew that Tony was probably still talking with Gibbs, because she had seen Ducky and Palmer leaving when Abby and McGee had left. Ziva was wondering what she should do at this point, if she should just pack a bag and attempt to sneak out the window or if she should just stay put and hope that Gibbs and everyone else could come up with a plan of action on how to figure out who the traitor was. Before she could make her final decision, Tony walked into the room and it was very clear that he was not thrilled with the conversation he had just finished with the guys, and especially with Gibbs. Ziva cocked her head to the side and waited, hoping that Tony would be honest and talk to her about everything but it was apparent that he was in no mood to do that, because he was slamming around the room, going through his dresser drawers and then slamming into the bathroom.

When Tony walked back into the bedroom a bit later, he was ready for bed and he didn't seem all that interested in talking with her. Ziva sighed and grabbed her own pajama's before going into the bathroom, however knowing what she knew about what was going to happen next, she didn't think she could face Tony, especially without knowing what was going to happen or what anyone was going to do, plan wise, to figure this whole thing out. Ziva walked out of the bathroom in her pajama's and her robe. She grabbed the laundry hamper and left the bedroom, seeing the arched eyebrow from Tony and knew that he was confused on why she was deciding to do any housework, especially at the time of night now.

* * *

Abby was worried about her friends, and she knew that she wasn't the only one. McGee had offered to have Abby stay with him or for him to stay at her place with her, but she felt like she wanted him to concentrate on solving the mystery on who the traitor was, and why he would do this to Ziva and Tony. Abby knew that Ziva was different and sometimes people didn't understand her, but if you took the time to get to know her you would see how great a friend she was and how much she really cared about people. Abby knew Ziva was holding her feelings over this news inside, she wasn't letting anyone know just how much it was hurting her to know someone would stab her and Tony in the back like that. Abby knew a lot more about her friend than anyone else, including Tony, and she knew that Ziva may be a tough woman who knew how to take care of herself and how to fight with the best of them, but she was also a woman who had the normal needs of any woman, and sometimes she had to let her emotions out, and if someone wasn't there for her when she did, then it was going to make things harder on her.

* * *

Gibbs was worried about all of his agents. He knew better than anyone what this could mean and that this could mean that anyone could become next on the hit list. Gibbs had wanted a chance to talk to Ziva but Tony had said it would be too much right now, and as much as Gibbs felt like it was important, he knew that if he took away control of this situation away from Tony, especially in his own home, then it would cause some serious self doubt in Tony and maybe even more problems between the two in the long run, and despite his rules and feelings, he was secretly rooting for those two to make it in the long run, they both deserved a chance to be happy, they both had a really rough life and they both had a hard time relying on other people to be there for them or to help them out.

"Ziva, let Tony help you." Gibbs whispered softly.

* * *

He needed to figure out who his main target should be. He had an idea on who would be perfect for this, but he had to make sure that he chose the right person because with how happy Ziva seemed to be in her new life, if he chose the wrong person, she might not take the risk on her own, and he needed her to come here on her own, thinking she had a shot at saving the person, as long as she didn't do anything stupid.

"Really soon we are going to be together." He said as he looked at an old picture that he had of his little Ziva and soon they were going to be together and he would make her pay for trying to leave him at all.

* * *

Ziva was leaning against the washing machine, and wondering what she was doing and how she could fix this whole issue on her own. She wasn't used to having people around that she could rely on and count on to help her out. She knew she should go back into the bedroom and talk to Tony but it was clear he was in no mood to talk, not even if it meant helping her out and that worried her, big time. Ziva felt like she needed a person she could know was going to help her deal with the new emotions rising inside of her, and she felt like Tony didn't want that job. She was staring blankly at the washing machine, knowing she was supposed to put detergent and stuff in it and turn it on, but she felt like her mind blanked out completely and she couldn't remember what she was doing. She didn't know why but she felt overwhelmed and scared and really alone, and that scared her worse than the reality that she didn't think that they could rely on anyone outside the team.

Ziva jumped when she felt someone grab her and turn her around. She saw the worried look on Tony's face and she couldn't hold the tears in anymore and she broke down. She saw the worried and scared look on her fiancés face as he pulled her into his arms and just held her, rubbing her back and trying to offer comfort.

"He won't go away, he will kill me eventually." Ziva said as she clung to Tony.

"I won't let him hurt you. I promise Ziva, I won't let him hurt you." Tony whispered, wondering how long she had been holding in her fear and emotions.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Ziva felt like she was all cried out when she opened her eyes two days after having her breakdown at the washing machine. She knew Tony just wanted to make things better for her, but she really didn't think there was any way that he could do that. She didn't want him to fix things for her, she wanted him to listen and hold her and understand that she may actually be more scared than she could ever remember being in her whole entire life. Ziva had always been taught to dismiss fear, and to hide it from others because showing weakness was how you could end up getting yourself killed, and that was how she had learned from childhood to dismiss any emotion that may make others think you were an easy target or that you had normal emotions. But now there were so many things going on that she honestly knew that she couldn't hide herself or her feelings at all anymore, and she often wondered just how bad this was going to bleed into her career. But she also knew that Tony had told her that these emotions didn't make her look weak, they made her a better agent because now she could understand the victims and their families a bit more.

Ziva knew that he was really trying to make her feel better, like an good fiancé would, but she just didn't feel like that was true. She had been raised so differently, and most of the time she wondered what she could possibly be thinking, because she was in such a different world and she actually thought she had a chance to make her life work in it. She often wondered how long she actually thought her marriage with Tony would last, knowing that in the long run, with how different she was raised, she could end up driving him so insane in less than a year of marriage, which would make it another one of her failures, which scared her a lot.

"Hey." Tony said, startling Ziva out of the panic attack she knew was about to hit her as she worried more and more about whether she had made the right decision after all to agree to marry Tony.

"Hi." Ziva said, her voice nearly a whisper.

"I know what you're thinking, stop it." Tony said simply as he knelt in front of her, as she sat on the bed and bit her bottom lip nervously.

"What is it you think I am thinking?" Ziva asked, arching an eyebrow.

"You're beating yourself up about the changes you have made to yourself and your emotional status lately. You are also thinking we will never have a relaxed and happy marriage." Tony said, surprising her as she stared at him in shock. "I know you better than you know yourself sometimes Ziva. You're putting way too much pressure on yourself. Look, we may have to work harder at times, and there are probably going to be times when all we do is fight, but our marriage will be better and stronger, because we worked on it." Tony said as he kissed her and backed her onto the bed. He was well aware that he needed to stop her from thinking too hard and there was really only one way to stop a woman from thinking too hard, at least that he knew of, and that was exactly what he proceeded to do.

* * *

Gibbs was concerned, and most of his concern was for Ziva. The more he thought about things, the more he knew that all of this was going to force her to think she was backed into a corner and make a decision that she wouldn't normally make. He was well aware that she was trying hard to make changes, ones that she thought might be helpful to the team and ones that she thought might make things easier in her personal life, either with Tony or all of them as her friends. Gibbs hated that she didn't realize that they cared about her just as she was, but he knew she had to see that on her own for it to matter. If she was just told, she would think they were only saying it to make her feel better. Gibbs knew that all of this going on, was throwing his agents off their games, and that was the reason that things were slipping past them and so were people.

The thought that someone he knew, someone he worked around and possibly saw every day, could possibly helping out this sick freak, was really pissing him off. The worst part was that he didn't have any clues as to who it could be, and the last time there was someone inside that had been hinky, he had not trusted his gut. Gibbs needed to find the inside person, yesterday, if he had any shot at letting Ziva see that she wasn't alone in this and that they were all going to make sure that the inside person and the sick, perverted creep that was apparently after her, and maybe Tony, was going down.

"Hang on Ziva, let me do my job and you'll see that you have people that have your back." Gibbs whispered as he glanced over to her desk and remembered the last woman who had sat there. He didn't want to look at that desk and think he had failed two of his female agents, he couldn't.

* * *

He knew that the new information he had gotten from his inside agent, was right on the money. Gibbs was concerned that Ziva was going to make a rash decision, and that was exactly what he was waiting for. He knew his Ziva, way better than that nasty American who thought he could marry her did. He knew his Ziva, just as he knew her father, and he knew that she would need to end this her own way and that was what he was counting on. He was going to make sure that when she finally saw who it was, that she understood why this was happening. He wanted to kill her, and then he didn't want to kill her. There were mixed emotions inside of him, but what happened between them was going to end up being up to her. If she accepted that this American agent, Anthony DiNozzo, wasn't the right one for her and that she had been making way too many mistakes lately, mistakes he could help her fix, then maybe they had a real shot at making things work, back home though. There was no way they were staying in the US either way, after he got his hands on his little Ziva David. He had everything ready for them to make the trip back home, where she would either die or live as his, forever.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

"You know putting off the wedding planning isn't going to make things easier?" Director Vance's wife said with a smile.

Ziva looked up and saw Abby and Mrs. Vance standing there, smiling at her and with their hands full of what appeared to be loads of bridal magazines and things. Ziva was aware that a lot of her friends were getting to be impatient with her, because she had not planned one thing for the wedding that apparently already had a date and invitations sent out. Ziva hadn't picked the date or sent out any invitations but she had been so glad that it was at least at this amazing place that she had wanted to have it. Ziva had figured since she was Jewish and Tony was Catholic, it would be better to have a neutral wedding at a place where everyone could feel included and welcome.

"I just… I don't know." Ziva said as waited for her friends to be with her.

"Ziva, everything will be perfect. You and Tony have already been through everything bad, so that means you are due for things to finally go right! I mean think about it, when you first joined NCIS as the liaison officer, no one thought there was a chance but secretly I knew. I could see that you two were interested in each other, the way you two joked and looked at each other, you just refused to admit it." Abby said with a huge grin on her face. "Ziva, I am so glad that you two are finally admitting how you feel about each other."

* * *

Director Vance wasn't sure how he was going to do this, but he had bent so far on so many rules this was one that he couldn't. Ziva and Tony can't work together, not now that they are engaged and certainly not after they get married. One of them will have to be transferred and Vance was not looking forward to talking to Gibbs about this, especially not with all the bad things that had been happening and all the worry that was going around. Vance had to admit he was also secretly worried about Ziva and he didn't think she would take this well. He had decided to just put her on another team, she would have more experience in the field than anyone else and he had already made it clear that she was the senior field agent on that team, but it would be hard for her to learn to work with a new team and not be able to rely on her old team that she already had a working groove with.

* * *

Gibbs knew that Vance was worried about something and if he really thought about he could tell what this was all about, he knew he was going to lose one of his team members and he had a feeling he knew which one it would be. Gibbs hated having new people brought on the team and when Ziva was sent to a new team, than Gibbs would be forced to look into new applicants and considering what had happened the first time they had tried to replace Ziva when they had thought she was gone for good, he didn't enjoy the prospect, at least this time he knew that Tony wouldn't be flirting with the new women applicants or overjoyed at the process the way he was before, maybe that would make it easier. Gibbs knew that he would have to talk Vance into holding off, at least until after they got things under control with this creep coming after Ziva and until after the wedding, especially since he could see Ziva was looking for any excuse to call of the wedding because she was scared it would hurt to many people.

* * *

Ziva smiled later that night as she sat at the kitchen table with the dinner that their neighbor had dropped off. Tony was playing footsie under the table with her and it was clear he knew there was a lot on her mind and that she was a bit distracted. Tony finally set his fork down and reached across the table to hold onto her free hand.

"Talk to me Ziva." Tony said softly.

"One of us will be forced off the team. We have been working together so long, I don't think I could handle working for someone else." Ziva said softly.

"Hey, look, I don't think you will be leaving the main headquarters, so you can always run stuff by us and add your input on our cases. As long as we are together, we can handle anything they throw at us." Tony told her with a grin. "At least you won't have to work with McGeek." Tony said scrunching up his face as he teased her by teasing McGee again. "I mean, you get away from total confusing computer speak constantly. I think he forgets how to talk to us humans, and just thinks we are computers, since that is the extent of his personal life. You know if he could marry a computer, I think he might."

Ziva couldn't help it, she burst out laughing and she could see that it was the desired result her fiancé was looking for. Although Tony had his issues, he did have his amazing moments where he really knew how to make her feel so much better. She knew she loved him and she couldn't imagine her life without him, she needed him in her life, and that was something she knew for sure.

* * *

He had a brand new plan and he had to admit it was a brilliant one this time. He was going to back off for a while, let them think something had happened or maybe he had changed his mind, but he wanted Ziva and her little protectors to slowly get comfortable. He knew that if he waited until she got back into the groove of things with her work schedule and her personal life not having so many protective agents involved in it, he had a real shot at getting what he would need. He knew she was getting married and as much as he would prefer to make sure that the wedding didn't happen, he had no choice but to handle this the way he wanted to, later than he wanted and with them letting their guard down slowly. He was going to make sure that his plans finally worked out, and he knew he could be patient, he had already waited a big amount of time, he didn't have to worry about waiting to much longer, he knew that.


End file.
